5 Quick Things, #139 🐦
Gollum, the noonday devil, robins, & what did you love when you were 10?
Hey there,
Hard to believe it’s another Friday already — this week whooshed by for me. Tonight is our typical family movie night, so we’ll probably do MYOP 🍕 and queue up something to stream after much debate (does it take your family forever to settle on a mutually agreed-on movie as well?).
In the meantime, Andy Serkis (who played Gollum) is doing a Hobbitathon today — he’s live-reading the entire The Hobbit today for charity! Amazing. This morning I sleepily opened the tab pre-coffee and promptly jumped out of my skin right as he was in the midst of screaming like Gollum. I’ve already teared up twice.
The moon sets at dawn in Maine. #
5 Quick Things ☕️
1. Continuing my series of letters to myself in 2010, this week I wrote about what I’ve learned actual self-care looks like (spoiler: it’s almost never mani-pedis + wine).
2. "We make our usual stops at the robin's nest we found in the cattails... I'm always comforted by nature but that's been especially true these past few weeks." Lovely.
3. In today’s quick Good List contribution, I’m talking about fighting the noonday devil. It’s a whole thing. (Probably for you, too.)
4. Even though my kids are older, this has been my general experience too.
5. This is a few years old, but I’ve been thinking about it again lately. Such an interesting way to think of things.
Quotable 💬
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”
― Margaret Atwood
Time Machine ⏰
Two years ago, Joy shared a great question to ask yourself. Simple, but so good.
Elsewhere 📌
Good book ideas in the comments here 👆(though if you’re a Books & Crannies subscriber, you’ve got a goldmine of ideas in this week’s chat!).
Have a good weekend,
xo, Tsh
p.s. A friendly reminder to consider Bookshop.org as your online bookstore — it supports both creators like myself and local, independent bookshops (because let’s face it, the behemoth-online-store-that-shall-not-be-named doesn’t need our help). I’ve told the kids to pick something from my TBR list for me for Mother’s Day… Curious what I’ll get! Thanks in advance for channeling your dollars to people who make our communities a better place. 📚🌎
This was timed well as I was in the process of choosing my next read. Acedia & Me has been on my radar for at least 5 years since I read The Quotidian Mysteries. About a year ago I purchased a copy. I had picked it up last week to start reading but laid it aside after a few pages telling myself it wasn't the right time or it was too much to think about "in these times." This episode pushed me to pick it up again and I am reading it slowly with notation tools in hand. Thanks for the nudge.
Also, the French Butter cake has been in my family since my grandma made it when I was a teen and simply called it gooey cake (which is evidently how Paula Deene and the entire city of St. Louis refer to it.) It is the stuff of legend, particularly because I once baked one while my parents were out for the evening, cleaned up all evidence of said baking, and then hid it under my bed so I could consume the entire thing myself. At my leisure. Which I did.
I regret nothing.
I really appreciated the essay on the benefits of being a parent in quarentine! We have a 5 year old daughter and while there are certainly times that I would rather NOT be parenting right now, she is such a tremendous source of light and joy.