🌸 Under the Dogwood Tree No. 35 🌸

February!

Hi friends - I keep telling myself I want to get back to writing more often, but I keep psyching myself out about not writing something “important” for the current moment and just focus on finding pockets of joy in the everyday - something we could all use more of, right? Let’s get right into it

What I’ve been up to -

• Riding the wild temperature swings of a Missouri February (no school for a week!)

• Knitting 30 squares of a temperature blanket to raise money for Ozarks Literacy Council (Craftathon!)

• Learning to spin! I took a class at the beginning of the month and I have two tiny finished skeins that I need to fisnd something to make with (Wristbands?)

What I’ve been reading -

• Under the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (book club pick) - the author is coming to Springfield later this year for our community One Read. If you need a cozy read with some magical children and a fussy British man unexpectedly finding love - this is your book!

• A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan - The subtitle tells it all: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America and the Woman who Stopped Them. Yet another chapter of American history that I never read about in school - the extent of the Klan’s influence over politics and society in general in the 1920s was so much more than I realized. Scary stuff and in some ways (probably more than I want to know) feels similar to Elon’s unelected government takeover happening in Washington now.

What I’ve been watching/listening to -

• TV: I caught an episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour about great shows on network TV and they had some many I already liked that I figured I would give another a try. St Denis Medical is a very silly workplace drama set in a small hospital - big Parks and Rec vibes. Plus - a 30 min comedy is so delightfully watchable without a major investment of time.

• Music: I like to listen to music when I work but it had to be instrumental - I can’t listen to words and read at the same time! I recently found the album “Acadia” by Yasmin Williams and it’s perfect!

What I’m looking forward to -

• Birthday month is coming up! (Why yes, I do celebrate all month.)

• All the bulbs I planted last fall are starting to come up. I always worry that a spring cold snap will ruin them, but Mother Nature knows what she’s doing.

• Craftathon party - I knit 30 more squares on my temperature blanket during the month of February to raise money for Ozarks Literacy Council. All the crafters are meeting in person next weekend to celebrate.