"Gannets and Ghouls," a short story published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in September/October 2024, uses gannet-hunting in the Faroe Islands and myths of dreygurs to explore the ties that bind.
A blog published by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: "The Anthropologist and the Mystery Writer: The Structure of Secrets," https://somethingisgoingtohappen.net/2024/08/22/the-anthropologist-and-the-mystery-writer-the-structure-of-secrets-by-sue-parman/ describes the importance of secrets in maintaining the boundaries of a closely knit crofting community in the Scottish Outer Hebrides even when the secrets include murder.
I'm entering into the phase of life when it's easy to do too much of something (too much standing/walking/eating/sleeping), which triggers a problem, which has a solution (less standing/not too much walking/moderate eating/moderate sleeping) that has to be delicately calibrated. The end of life is like the narrowing of a ridge. I am a Ridge Walker negotiating an increasingly thinning edge.
DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL
In August I disappear
so my birthday can't find me.
It will rub its nose in the scent of my years
and howl on my trail
but I've learned a few tricks.
I shoot out all the lights,
forcefeed the cat with cloves,
sneak garlic to the fanged canaries.
I eat all the cherries.
I erase my reflection in the mirror,
pound iron stakes into the dresser,
throw out the French lingerie.
And most of all I block my ears
against the birthday song, against all songs
that remind me that as I grow older, so do you.
You walk closer to the edge than I do.
I hadn't realized how steep the trail is,
how far up we've come.
The ledge narrows as I speak
and I hear the sound of drums.