Stay Hydrated, Folks

Mostly sharing my new Catskill Crew column 💦

Sandy Allen
July 08, 2026

Welcome to What’s Helping Today, a newsletter about the everyday work of staying alive on earth — written by author and journalist Sandy Ernest Allen.

Hey all,

A brief one today. Mostly wanted to share my new Catskill Crew column: It’s on watering my garden. Enjoy:

YOUR NEXT FAVORITE BOOKSTORE

Catskill Crew • Michael Kauffman

If you’ve missed my previous columns, they’ve been on many topics, including: compost, growing tomatoes, starting seeds, starting over with a neglected garden site, cultivating healthy soil, and my first one on bartending for slugs.

Folks in the Hudson Valley or Catskills region: My pal Rob Moor has a new book out and I’ll be doing his Kingston stop, at Rough Draft.

Robert Moor (IN TREES) in conversation with Sandy Ernest Allen — Rough Draft Bar & Books

We’re excited to welcome Robert Moor ( On Trails ) to discuss his new book In Trees with the Hudson Valley’s own Sandy Ernest Allen! Join us for a lively summer evening of arboreal wonder and natural-world delights!!

Rough Draft Bar & Books

One last quick thing: I received this nice note:

“Hi, Sandy! I'm the Managing Director of the Little Red General Store, a worker-owned cooperative that's trying to change how retail works in America, and which just so happens to be run by all trans people. … I was also personally impacted by your segment on This American Life.

Among the things we sell are books, and when I saw yours show up in our supplier's inventory, I got excited! I'm thinking we might be able to help each other out.

I created a discount code for our site: @sandyernestallen. Anyone can enter that at checkout and save 5% instantly.”

Thanks to Little Red General Store for offering this! I hope you’ll buy my book, and read it, if you haven’t yet! You can also request it at your library (ask them to buy a copy if they haven’t). My voice’s deeper now but there’s also an audiobook I read, in part.

Ishmall had won!

Sandy

p.s. Here’s that This American Life story, for anyone who’s not heard that …

p.p.s. Once again, he’s my latest essay, for CN Traveler … on a once-forgotten piece of trans history from right here in the Catskills.

Thanks for reading What’s Helping Today, a newsletter by me — author and journalist Sandy Ernest Allen. If you were forwarded this message, WHT is free; you can subscribe here. If you like my work: Please consider tipping me via my Buy Me a Coffee. My suggested amount for those who can is $5 a month or more. Your help in supporting my work is greatly appreciated!