Hey there,

Who else has this dilemma: it’s early morning, which means it’s the coolest time of day to work on the garden. But it also means the mosquitoes are out in full force — and I am a magnet for mosquitoes. They’re throwing off my groove in the garden and yet I hate spending the rest of the morning and afternoon itchy... Has anyone found a natural-ish mosquito repellant that actually works? I’m all ears.

In other news, I’ve got an upcoming deadline in a few weeks for a project that involves some light writing — but still, writing — so my newly-free-for-the-summer days will be spent headfirst in getting this baby in on time. And because I’ll be leading our trip to Italy in late July (psst: come on along!), I may bump my usual month-off-the-internet from all of July to mid-June through mid-July. All of this is to say: I’m thinking through my summer plans and nothing is yet set in stone. All I know is I’m pretty sure my body and brain more than are ready for some time in an innertube floating on a river. Bring it on.

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. ICYMI, earlier this week I shared the speech I gave at our high school’s graduation last weekend, where I give 10 bits of advice I’d give my high-school graduating self — in particular, to let the drunk Irishman sing ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ to you on the train in Wales on your way to the ferryboat to Dublin.

2.  I’ve never seen the film he references (I want to now, though), but as a Joel Salatin and Wendell Berry fan, I appreciate this thoughtful essay on the conundrum of farming animals, even ethically: “We ask much of our farmers and butchers, those who deal out death for us. They deserve our respect and compassion if ever they decide to put the knife away. We ask much of our fellow creatures as well. They deserve our compassion.”

3. I’m super intrigued by olive oil ice cream… I think I’m gonna make it tonight (probably much to my children’s chagrin).

4. I’ve said it 8,372 times, but it remains true: as someone who grew up in a city and has lived in both tiny villages and skyrise-clad megacities, I love living in a small town. Love, love, love it. This long but thoughtful essay explores both the mythical positives and negatives of these places, particularly how they’re portrayed in books and films.

5. And finally, here’s a quick and “simple” life expectancy test. What would you score?

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

• Word on Fire’s new Liturgy of the Hours series (June ‘22 is the first installment) — I love it so far! Super easy yet quite grounding.

Quotable 💬

“If you care too much about being praised, in the end you will not accomplish anything serious.”

— Leo Tolstoy #

Elsewhere (by someone else) 📍

Sage wisdom of the ages, right here:

Spencer A. Klavan @SpencerKlavan

my advice for you is if you have a lot of things to do, first do one of them, and then do one after that, and then keep going and you will have done all the things

6:49 PM ∙ Jun 1, 2022

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Quick Links 🔗

• Create your own Rule of Life

• Subscribe to A Drink With a Friend

• Travel with me + Seth & Amber Haines to Tuscany, Italy: July 23-August 2

Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

In what specific way do you hope to have grown exactly one year from today?

Have a great weekend,

Tsh

p.s. An oldie but a goodie.