At the risk of jinxing it - we are enjoying some absolutely beautiful summer weather this weekend in the Ozarks.
Also! I want to say a special hello to all the new friends who saw my comment on Erin Moon’s newsletter about starting this newsletter and kindly subscribed! I’d love it if you would introduce yourself in the comments.
Good stuff this week -
Doing: The kids and I went for a hike near Branson today with some friends - it’s so nice to just get outside and be in nature where cell coverage can’t reach. (Although we could still hear the train whistle from Silver Dollar City, so we weren’t too far from civilization.) There was some whining, but the kids mostly got a second-wind after lunch and managed the 3.5 mile hike pretty well. We played in the creek and then went to Dairy Queen afterward, so that was good motivation!
Watching (through my fingers): Watchmen on HBO. I’m not a huge superhero-story fan, and it is more violent than my typical TV fare, but I am intrigued by the characters and the alternate-history storyline. I’m 3 episodes in… what is up with the extremely creepy guy in the castle with all the cloned butlers/maids? (No, don’t tell me. Ugh - he’s so creepy!)
Reading: The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett. I finished this book over the weekend - it definitely lives up to the hype. I love character-driven novels but this one had some page-turner plot elements as well. I’m so happy I’ve managed to find a book I could concentrate on for more than 5 minutes.
Learning: Am I the last person on planet Earth to figure out how to use Instagram stories? Highly possible. But this old dog is trying to learn some new tricks. You can watch me fumble along at @skerner.
Gardening & stuff: Our quarantine chickens laid their first egg this week. Huzzah!
Bonus gardening content: My surprise lilies (aka Naked Ladies) bloomed this week. I had never seen these flowers until I moved to Southwest Missouri. They are really weird - all the leaves come out in early spring, then shrivel away through the summer only to pop up a bare stalk with a pretty pink flower in the heat of summer. They’re always a treat when most of the rest of my garden is dying because I haven’t watered enough.
Making: I find making something with my hands so calming when I am stressed out by the news or life in general. I picked up a mostly-finished cross-stitch project (Things of Spring by the delightful Alicia Paulson) and I think an embroidered tea towel is next up on the crafting docket.
Planning: Next week - vote! vote! vote! Towards the end of the week I am taking a little road trip. We cancelled our family vacation out of an abundance of caution earlier this summer and I really have been feeling like I need to get out of town. We’ll be masked up on the road and staying with family, so I’m hoping this will be a safe way to have a getaway during this very strange summer.
New around here, too---thanks, Erin Moon for the suggestion. Love how simple your writing is. It's lovely to read something that doesn't deepen the "I'm thinking REALLY hard right now" wrinkle between my eyes. And I don't say that to mean it isn't good writing---I just mean it in the way that "everything is hard right now and this felt light and airy and breezy." I'll stop now. Just glad to be here! :)
Loved the Vanishing Half! Thanks for dropping your newsletter! Loving it!