Jill McCabe Johnson
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jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Jill McCabe Johnson
@jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
4K followers 2.9K following 1.1K posts
Writing about nature, science, history, & sexual violence. Multiple books, multiple mischief. TANGLED IN VOW & BESEECH (poems) last year. LEARNING TO SPAR (memoir) next year. EiC Wandering Aengus & Trail to Table Press. Here for lit community & Caturday.
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jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
From yesterday’s walk…

(Second time to visit this Paleolithic site of Magdelenian cave paintings. Incredible.)
The entrance to Font-de-Gaume cave in Les Eyzies, site of 14,000 year old, polychromatic cave paintings (and not a giant’s nostrils).
November 24, 2025 at 4:12 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
From yesterday’s walk (in southern France)…
Poster between two shuttered windows of an artist painting a French hillside town Clock tower above an arched stone port over a cobblestone street Half timber exterior wall with bricks at surprising angles. In the center, a small, wood framed window and single, open shutter. Blue sky and clouds above. Sign in French village with a yellow goose on a red background. The sign reads: Producteur Local, Foie gras.
November 23, 2025 at 8:45 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
From today’s hike…
November 12, 2025 at 10:05 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
From today’s walk…
Pretty pink flowers, possibly a small bougainvillea, with green foliage.
November 11, 2025 at 11:54 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
From yesterday’s walk…
The San Pedro Creek through downtown San Antonio with indigenous plants on either side and reflecting the blue sky
November 11, 2025 at 2:22 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Look who’s signing books at the #PortlandBookFest! The brilliant and inimitable poet, Amanda Hawkins, with their book, When I Say the Bones I Mean the Bones.
Amanda Hawkins signing books at the Wandering Aengus Press booth at the Portland Book Festival
November 8, 2025 at 11:07 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Check out @unsolicitedpress.bsky.social representing at #portlandbookfestival!
Books from Unsolicited Press’ Year of the Womxn series on display at the Portland Book Festival
November 8, 2025 at 2:01 AM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
We’re ready for you at the #PortlandBookFestival

Hope to see you there!
Photo of the Wandering Aengus & Trail to Table booth at the Portland Book Fest.
November 8, 2025 at 12:56 AM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Who’s willing to pay me to review neighborhood coffee shops ‘cause I am ready!!!
Plush coffee shop interior with red velvet sofa, marble coffee table, and Victorian decor Coffee shop interior with art nouveau mirror over William Morris wallpaper behind coffee bar
November 6, 2025 at 7:04 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Good morning, Portland (OR)!

I’m fueling up for the #portlandbookfestival!
Leaf covered sidewalk and street bathed in orange and gold on a residential street in Portland, OR Latte in ceramic cup and croissant on china in front of window with blurred view of autumn trees, cars, and street in the distance
November 5, 2025 at 6:15 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
This gets tricky…
Pink sign found above a public toilet has an illustration of a smiling roll of toilet paper with a thumbs up, and it reads: Sensitive Plumbing Please do not flush anything except toilet paper
November 4, 2025 at 8:03 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Big thanks to @alanparrywriter.co.uk, @katiejenkinspoet.bsky.social & David Hanlon for including my poem in @brokenspinejournal.bsky.social's Autumn 2025 Selected Poetry.

Hope y'all read the whole, beautiful issue!

@lossley.bsky.social this one's for you.

thebrokenspine.co.uk/product/sele...
For nine months, you swam in the salty waters of my womb. Budding sea anemone, petals of tentacle and swirl. You brushed against the taut walls of your aquarium, but when the time came, you settled in for another four weeks, burrowed deep in briny sleep. Is it any wonder we breathe underwater in our dreams. Pollywogging at the lake’s shore, coral reefing amid a surge of parrotfish. Our bodies undulate like jellyfish, lithe and supple as we drift through beacons of light. Remember the time we scrambled down the beach on the Strait of Juan de Fuca? I admired your balance as you bounded over volcanic rock to get a closer view of oyster catchers foraging among palm kelp and rockweed. Your hair fell across your shoulders in waves wild as that January sea. Afterward, your dad pulled into a micro-distillery, and we warmed ourselves with oak-barrel whiskey. Your laugh rippled like your hair, like the ocean, like the blood flushing all our cheeks. Sometimes I think about the river otters we spotted in Central Oregon. The three of us leaned out over the bridge as they wriggled their way downstream. How we ran to the other side to watch them eel away. You and tide pools hold me rapt for hours. A world both foreign and familiar. Sea urchins. Shore crabs. Purple and orange starfish. Limpets and barnacles holding fast to the rocks. When you were younger, you delighted in the seals and otters at Seattle Aquarium. Last Christmas, too. Hogan swam upside down in front of you. His mottled fur as dappled as the surface of the water, while his fringe of white whiskers swept along the glass. In your late thirties, you were too old to squeal with delight, but inside, I squealed for you. That night you boiled penne pasta in a bath of salt water and served the noodles under scallion, feta, tomato, and a splash of Gigondas. For my birthday, you pickled onions in salt water, too. Such brines, such elixirs, such broths of my undoing. (plus one stanza--not enough room for the full poem)
October 27, 2025 at 11:21 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Pictures of Fall from yesterday’s walk and today’s hike.
Maple leaves in tones of russet and green and wet with rain Gingko biloba leaves in yellow and green and covered in raindrops A forest trail covered with russet colored pine needles and illuminated in golden sunlight. The long shadows of tree trunks stretch across the trail. A view between two fir trees across a lake rippled from the wind. The glow of the setting sun lights up the far horizon.
October 14, 2025 at 5:07 AM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Happy Fall, y’all!

Don’t forget, beauty and art are the building blocks of resistance.

🧡🎃👻
October 11, 2025 at 7:10 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Drop everything and join us for this fab reading today with Jan Shoemaker reading from her essay collection, Slow Learner, and Peter Ludwin reading from his poetry collection, An Altar of Tides!

4p Pacific, 7p Eastern on Zoom. Pre-register here:
us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Wandering Aengus & Trail to Table Press Online Reading Series Thursday, October 9 Peter Ludwin & Jan Shoemaker 4-5 pm Pacific - 7-8 pm Eastern Graphic includes a photo of Peter in a blue plaid shirt and standing in front of a tree, and a photo of Jan wearing glasses and with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. The cover of Peter's poetry collection, An Altar of Tides, shows water flowing over rounded stones and sand. The cover of Jan's essay collection, Slow Learner, depicts a bright green fern opening in front of a black background.
October 9, 2025 at 6:59 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
What shall we serve our B&B guests this morning?
October 3, 2025 at 2:04 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Here’s a dinner-plate-size magnolia blossom for all that ails ye…
October 2, 2025 at 1:32 AM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Hello, Fall.
September 30, 2025 at 6:09 AM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
A quick pick-me-up at Better Living Through Coffee (and peppermint tea).
September 29, 2025 at 8:29 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
What do you think? Author photo?
Woman sitting on grass dressed in blue jeans and a blue and white plaid top with a trug full of tomatoes in front of her.
September 14, 2025 at 2:37 AM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
A metaphor for our time…
August 17, 2025 at 1:10 AM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Procrastinating Affogato
Your Kentucky Derby horse name is: A symptom of one of your mental illnesses + the last thing you ate
July 30, 2025 at 1:04 AM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Quince, in case you were wondering
A fuzzy, not yet ripe quince hangs among sunlit leaves
July 28, 2025 at 11:46 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
The trees have eyes…
Tree trunk where scarring from pruned-off branch now looks like an eye Tree trunk where scarring from pruned-off branch now looks like an eye Tree trunk where scarring from pruned-off branches now looks like eyes Tree trunk where scarring from pruned-off branch now looks like an eye
July 25, 2025 at 6:21 PM
jillmccabejohnson.bsky.social
Can’t wait to dig into this fun read—the latest #novel from my friend and fellow alum, @ianmrogers.bsky.social!

His last book was insightful and hilarious, so I know (especially as a fan of D&D and Magic the Gathering) I’m going to love this one!

#fiction
#amreading
The cover of Ian M. Rogers’ new novel, Carcrash Parker and the Haven of Larpers shows a blue sedan surrounded by images of a wizard, castle, game station, digital clock, TV, running shoes, sword & shield, treasure chest, soldier in full armor, flannel shirt, and a stack of books with a small box on top. Definitely an 80s vibe. The blurb reads: Tender, earnest, & completely original” —Sean Doolittle, author of Device Free Weekend
July 24, 2025 at 1:43 AM