5 Quick Things #366 ⛈️

thunderstorms, Swiss guards, handshakes, & Gandalf impressions

May 02, 2025

Hey there,

Normally I write this either Thursday afternoon at the latest or here and there throughout the week, but instead I’m coming to you fairly late on Thursday evening. …It has been a week full of starting to wind down the school year (two weeks left, and oh, the grading!), lots and lots of scrubbing (the weather has got me sucked in to clichéd spring cleaning), out in the garden staking my plants in between thunderstorms (as they shoot up from all the rain we’ve had), and generally prepping the house for my oldest kiddo’s return tomorrow from her semester abroad — and I can’t wait to hug her!

Because I’m the total opposite of a night owl, this will be a quick one…

*The Garden in Spring, Eragny*, by Camille Pissarro (1894) #

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. Here’s a lovely essay from
Dixie Dillon Lane
about the beauty of the simple handshake: “And if we are no longer neighbors but only cohabitants of a neighborhood, who will not shake hands and do not talk over the fence, who shop on smartphones instead of in stores, who do contactless pickup of books at the local library so we don’t have to see or touch or talk to a librarian, and who do not let our children play outside (where they might meet other children) because of ubiquitous Stranger Danger, then what is to become of us? A community that never talks and never meets the eyes and never touches hands is not a real community. It is no place in which to rear children or otherwise seek to live the good life.”
2. This week I’ve remembered that there’s little else on earth that’s quite like the simple pleasure of a morning sipping coffee during a rainstorm under a covered porch. …God bless Texas and its spring thunderstorms.
3. Ever wondered why those guards at the Vatican wear such clownish uniforms? What’s their overall purpose? How they get chosen for the gig? This was an interesting history on the Swiss guards.
4. I’ve wanted a new couch for several years now — the one we’ve had for almost thirteen years is a good, sturdy thing, but it’s a bit too big for our small cottage. It’s an L-shaped conversational that has nice, clean lines and plenty of memories stored in its cracks (as well as crumbs from countless snacks), but still… it’s just felt like too much couch. Alas, couches are expensive, if you haven’t checked lately, and I just can’t find one I really love enough to spend that kind of money on. So, I went with ordering a form-fitting slipcover on Etsy and chose to be content with our old couch — and sure enough, it feels like we have a new couch! The slipcover fits like a glove and brightens up our tiny space, and I’m glad we went this route (even though it’s still too big for the room).
5. And finally, this was a charming conversation over pizza and Japanese candy between Judas Iscariot and a Roman spy.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis (teaching it again, but I’ll happily take any excuse to re-read this delight — this audio version is fantastic)

Quotable 💬

“Don’t you know what that is? It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want—oh, you don’t quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”

― Mark Twain

How do you feel about the end of the school year on the horizon? 😎

I’m very obviously Team ‘Please Hurry,’ but I’m surprised at the number of those of you who don’t have a school year here to contend with… Either a sizable amount of you aren’t parents, are parents but not of school-age kids, or have forgotten your kids back at school sometime around September.

How on earth is it not already here? Please hurry: 41%
What school year?: 36%
Please... not the summer yet. I beg you: 17%
It’s not even remotely close (because where I live our school year is different): 6%

Find next week’s poll here.

Our Summer Pilgrimage: June 3-15, 2025! 🎒

Yep, it’s coming in just about a month, but it’s not too late to register …for a few more weeks! Would love to have you join us and our group of your future kindred spirits — learn more here.