5 Quick Things #371 🫐
straw-man arguments, sabbaticals, verifiable travel advice, & berries
Hey there,
What can one say about an otherworldly experience with seventy (70!) fellow pilgrims floating down the Rhine River in order to hear from God in a unique way while in unique places? One hardly knows where to begin. …Which is why I’ll have more coherent reflections to share this next week. Right now, I’m still very jet lagged. 😴
Our family returned from leading this year’s pilgrimage super-late Sunday night, then hit the ground running the next morning with work, laundry, filling the empty fridge, and generally getting our head above water. It’s been quite the whirlwind, especially during an unusually busy summer week! I’m still unbelievably grateful for our time, though… Floating from Amsterdam, Netherlands down to Lucerne, Switzerland and exploring cathedrals, storybook villages, and medieval ways of life in between was entirely, entirely worth all the jet lag and sheer scale that is my laundry pile waiting for me on our bed right now.
Next year’s pilgrimages (yep, plural!) will be announced soon and very soon, first as always to previous pilgrims that have traveled with me in years past, but then to everyone soon after. I truly hope one day you can join us! It’s such a rich experience.
5 Quick Things ☕️
1.
reminded me of my piece from last year right before I took a summer sabbatical off the internet — because I’m taking this July (plus the first few weeks of August!) off like I do every year, it was a good reminder for myself, too. Plus, she links to lots of other great words of wisdom about the beauty of going analog.2. On one particular bus ride to one of our locations (can’t remember which one now), I hosted an ‘ask me anything’ Q&A, and someone asked me for my best travel advice. It’s not original, but I’ve found it to be completely true: take half as many clothes and twice as much money as you think you need. Nobody cares what you wear and/or that you re-wear the same thing again and again (because everyone’s thinking about what they are wearing), yet random travel incidentals always pop up and cost more money than you think they will. Unfortunately.
3. Check oil and wiper fluid levels in car, remember people’s names and greet them with poise, and recognize a straw-man argument: I completely agree with these 100 practical life skills every 18-year-old should have (and am bookmarking this for a class I teach!). From
.4. Kyle’s belated Father’s Day gift is a new grill (which yes, benefits me and my carnivore ways, but it genuinely is a long-requested gift of his!). Paying subscribers, hit me in the comments thread here with any grill recommendations… We already have a classic charcoal Weber grill and don’t plan to get rid of it anytime soon, so we’re looking for a quicker weekday grill for dinners (therefore propane, maybe?). I do love the idea of pellet grills like Traegers, but I’m not yet convinced they’re worth the money… What say you?
5. And finally, a collection of berry recipes, just right for the summer. (Yes, I’m carnivore 90% of the time, but every now and then — especially in the summer — I still crave the refreshment of berries. And I’m learning more and more how to tweak recipes to make them sugar-free and still tasty… at least to me.)
Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📺
Murder in Provence (just started it this week so we’re one episode in, but so far I like it! We’ll see…)
Quotable 💬
“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien
What type of book do you like to read while on vacation? ⛱️
Every year on our pilgrimage I bring a book with me, and every year it stares from my bag and laughs at me. This is because for me, pilgrimages are decidedly work trips and not vacations, and therefore my waking hours during them are so full it’s all I can do to keep my eyes awake until I crash at night. BUT — I do love me a good mystery read during an actual vacation. Either that, or historic fiction based on wherever we’re currently visiting.
Historic fiction: 25.7%
Mystery: 19.1%
Literary: 16%
Romance: 13.2%
Fantasy: 9%
Spiritual non-fiction: 6%
Other non-fiction: 5%
Thriller: 3.3%
Historic non-fiction: 1.9%
Sci-fi: 0.5%
Find next week’s poll here.
Quick Links 🔗
Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔
What ordinary thing should you pay more attention to today?
Have a great weekend,
- Tsh
p.s. - The beauty of pareidolia.
My husband has a propane Weber grill that he got for Father’s Day in 2009 and still loves it and uses it all the time.
I've had both a Charbroil propane grill and a Weber charcoal grill for a long time, but the Charbroil is on its last legs. I'm actually debating a Blackstone vs regular propane grill for its replacement.