Week 35

Dahlias at Polly Judd Park

Two great things happened this week: the smoke cleared and move-in weekend featured my very own niece moving into her new dorm room. I realized that the life-span of these incoming freshmen represent my entire time spent at Whitworth as a student and employee.

"IRATE"

Listening

After a particularly task-heavy, stress-filled morning at work, I forced myself to exit my office and explore the outside world and disconnect from those things keeping me in. That's when I remembered I hadn't been to the new Costco, just north of Whitworth. If there's one way to make me forget about life's problems, it's to walk through Costco without a shopping cart and remember how much I don't need to buy things in bulk. More often than not, I leave feeling content with what I have. (Though they did have a good deal on a 6-pack of sardines, so I may go down in history as the only person to make this solitary purchase at Costco.) The point of this whole anecdote is that while there, ogling at mass quantities of stuff under unflattering lighting, a Punch Brothers chorus entered my head. "My oh my what a wonderful day we're having...why oh why are we looking for a way outside it?" I used that fancy new car stereo of mine to play it as soon as I got back to the parking lot. The sky was blue, the air was clear, and I thanked my brain for reminding me of a song that helped me appreciate it that much more. It's been my anthem for the week.

Also, a friend let me know about the new podcast "Everything Is Alive" and I am hooked. Just listen to "Louis, Can of Cola" and you'll understand how such a weird idea (a host interviewing inanimate objects) can be both hilarious and empathy-inducing.

Dream van, seen at the South Hill Library parking lot

Watching

When you sit down to finally watch "Amy," the documentary about Amy Winehouse, you know you're committing to a couple hours of sadness. Her death did not come as a shock, but the rise and fall of her fame, the loss of her immense talent, is painful to watch. I appreciated the line from Tony Bennett after her death when he wished he had told her to slow down. "You're too important."

"Don't Think Twice" was a movie on Netflix about an improv troupe starring all your favorites from other Netflix shows. Nice to have on while knitting.

Dining outside at Tamarack, Friday night

Reading

A radical idea: There is nothing wrong with your house.

I finished Mrs. Fletcher and have been picking out essays to read from Bernd Heinrich's A Naturalist at Large this week. While on a bike ride last weekend, we observed trees growing out of the basalt and wondered how that could happen. Coincidentally, this book addresses that. I've learned a bit about the American chestnut and the efforts to preserve them, and why certain trees' boughs bend without breaking during ice storms, and how, in general, life around us is constantly reaching for light and trying to spread roots.

Reading with a side of iced rooibos tea

Making

My Francis sweater is so close! I should be taking more in-progress pictures, but I hope to show you the finished product soon.

Recipes

I pulled a recipe from Bon Appetit for a Moo Shu pork style stirfry using, strangely, hot Italian sausage, served on tortillas. Weird but good. I'll share my adaptation of the recipe soon.