5 Quick Things #412 🌻

creating new life, building new-old things, summertime reading, & being fully human

May 29, 2026

Hi there,

Greetings from my first normal week in …three months? Six months? A year? I don’t know anymore. What’s normal? At minimum, greetings from my week in which I do not have a Huge Major Family Milestone Moment on the calendar. —I hardly know what to do with myself.

Our oldest is officially married, our second is officially graduated, and our youngest officially turns sixteen (and hopefully gets his driver’s license soon after🤞) in about two weeks. How am I at this stage of life? Among the many other wild things I’ve had to process lately, this is a big one Kyle and I keep repeating to ourselves like a couple set out to pasture at a retirement home: time sure flies, doesn’t it? Weren’t we just married? Wasn’t this scholarship-amassing new college student of ours just worrying us with his lack of speaking? Weren’t we just dealing with our youngest as a three-year-old constantly getting in to everything, climbing out-of-reach shelves to reach Halloween candy and super glue? Alas, all the clichés about time, etc., have been loudly ringing true these days. I’ve got an essay in the works reflecting on some of these thoughts, and I hope to hit publish on it soon.

In the meantime: the summer season is here! 👏 Even if these months don’t reflect my favorite temp on the thermometer, summer is my favorite season because of its pace of life. Perhaps it’s the homeschool mom in me, perhaps it’s the teacher in me, perhaps it’s simply the Texan in me who prefers cut-offs and bare feet, but summer mode is the Best Mode. Bring on the easier books, cold drinks, and porch swings. I am so very ready.

*On the Rocky Spur* (1910), by Ettore Tito #

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. Earlier this week I asked Commonplace subscribers to share their monthly gratitude lists, so if you’re a sub, don’t forget to add yours! (it was on Memorial Day, so you may have been wisely offline and thus missed it). Some favorites I’m seeing so far: ‘The beauty of a thunderstorm and the rainbow that followed,’ ‘an ancient light pink patchwork quilt on our bed,’ ‘the camaraderie around the Route 66 celebrations going on during the 100th anniversary of the Mother Road—it’s been fun meeting people from all across the nation who are traveling through,’ and ‘having a few friends that I keep in touch with via hand-written letters.’
2. A new papal encyclical dropped this week! 🙌 For those unaware (because I didn’t know until I swam the Tiber), popes often write documents that serve as letters to a global audience, often about social or theological issues. Here it is directly from the Vatican, and so far this is my favorite commentary slash explainer (though I look forward to eventually watching this discussion when it’s available to the public). …Lots to unpack in this document.
3. Speaking of the spirit of being full persons in the age of technology, I appreciated these words and photos of Carmelite monks in Wyoming building a Gothic cathedral by hand, while also using technology and modern tools, like robots: “…Everything from Champagne to lowercase letters to water-powered forges have been invented by enterprising monks. It is this tradition of innovation that the Wyoming Carmelites are leaning into to answer their prayers for a mountain monastery.”
4. Griffin Gooch hits it out of the park with his recent reflections on having kids when there’s never a good time to have kids. As I told him—there is, indeed, never a good time to have kids, which is why it’s always a good time to have kids. His words beautifully capture the essence of parenting: “Sometimes, I’m even thankful that the world she’s coming into isn’t perfect. Neither of us ascribe to the belief that a life without resistance, hardship, let down is what makes for a flourishing life. We need every note on the scale of human emotion in order to stumble into a textured, beautiful life.”
5. And finally, from the archives… A few years ago one of my students requested a summer reading list from me for her transitory months between her junior and senior years. Here’s what I came up with—I’d love to have written another one for this year, but I just haven’t had time. Nonetheless, I think this list is still a strong one! (I’ll share my own summer reading plans for this year in our monthly subscriber book chat soon).

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📻

My Summer playlist from last year (until I have time to make this year’s)

Quotable 💬

“Someday, you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”

-C.S. Lewis

What’s better in the shower? 🧼

A completely random question, I know, and I bet you can guess where I was when it came to me… I used to be a ride-or-die liquid soap gal, but for about a decade I’ve used good, minimal-ingredient bar soap inside a bag sorta like this, and it’s a game-changer. Not only does it last longer than liquid soap (and therefore cheaper), but the scratchiness on the skin is weirdly therapeutic. 10/10, would recommend.

Bar soap: 52.6%
Liquid soap: 47.4%

Find the next poll here.

Scotland: Join Us This Summer! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I can’t emphasize enough how formative a pilgrimage like this is in your life…. If you’re on the fence, take these words as a sign from the Lord and SIGN UP. You won’t regret it.

(Psst… Those of you already going: check your inboxes—I wrote you this week!)

Come with us to Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿