Isn’t it absolutely wild how the world at large can feel like a dumpster fire while one’s own life can float along rather smoothly?
I am/we are, doing well. Life is good.
And yet, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop because despite my own personal bubble, there is no true separation between the collective you and the personal I, especially when considering it all from a collectivist point of view: we all do better when we all do better.
And so I just keep putting one foot in front of the other… Volunteer, attend heart-filling community events, eat well, hydrate, take my supplements, sign petitions, make calls, choose purchases wisely, check in on my people, light candles, and trust in the absolute goodness of the earth.
Self-care and distraction are also helpful tools 🙂 Here’s a smidge of what I’ve been up to while continuing to temper my social media and news consumption:
I am currently…
Reading: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon.
…a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.
I’m also slowly making my way through Orbital by Samantha Harvey
…an eloquent meditation on space and life on our planet through the eyes of six astronauts circling the earth in 24 hours
I am thoroughly enjoying both books, though I’m making my way through Orbital much slower than The Frozen River. See, The Frozen River is an audio book, which I can listen to for multiple hours a day as I complete house and farm chores, while Orbital is a physical book that I really only have the capacity to sit with for short periods of time between other responsibilities, and often only at night before bed. And, I’ll be completely honest here, my nighttime reading capacity is almost zero because this mama is tired at the end of the day.
That being said, since my last Currently check in in January I have finished:
- House of Crimson Kisses by Ruby Roe (audio)
- Weyward by Emilia Hart (physical)
- The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan (audio)
- What the Wife Knew by Darby Kane (audio)
- Before the Coffee Gets Cold #1 by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (audio)
- The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (audio)
I have recently moved all of my audio listening to Libro.fm and my book tracking to The StoryGraph where I adore all the fun data tracking and pretty graphs.
The StoryGraph also has a several community features I enjoy and allows readers to friend and follow each other to see TBRs, past reads, current reads and any reviews one might post.
Feel free to friend me: melissa_505 so we can share our lists and maybe get a little inspiration.
Listening: Given all my recent audio books, music has taken a bit of a backseat in my ears over the last few weeks but I am enjoying the new Lumineers album as well as the occasional bi-lateral song or two, like this one or this one, though there are so many to choose from. My daughter loves to send them to me when she comes across one she thinks I’ll like. It never ceases to amaze me how good it is for grounding me back into my body.
Creating: While I’ve been excelling at other interests over the past month, my creativity has honesty faltered. I’m not sure if it’s the state of the world or the state of my mind (though, yes, they are intertwined) but I just haven’t felt inspired to create much of anything.
However, in The Frozen River, Martha mentions making one “extra” quilt every year for a young family in her community and it has reminded me about how I used to crochet a blanket for every new baby that came into my life. I haven’t done this in years because we haven’t welcomed any new babies into our lives in years but Martha’s quilts have me thinking that maybe I could just start on one or two so I could have them ready for the next baby, whenever it decides to bless us and their loving parents.
I’m a big fan of C2C patterns, so I might have to begin some searches for sweet ones fit for a new life.
Watching: My wife and I are still watching The Last Kingdom a couple of times a week as late night energy allows. I’m often lucky to stay awake long enough for a full episode, but it’s better than nothing 😉
Planning: Planning this month has involved a bit of physical work in the way of pruning both berries and trees. Our Landlord hired a team of Arborists this year to help us do some solid work on all the trees in the orchard and my wife busted her behind with them for two solid days. I was able to help a bit but also had other responsibilities to attend to so have focused more of my time on the berries.
In addition, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to plan for the un-plan-able within both our political climate and our physical environment. Fire Season, literally and figuratively, is set to be quite the doozy this year.
As prepped as I’d like to think I am, I can feel the uncertainty of it all in my bones and know there is more work to be done.
Writing: I promised myself that 2025 would be the year of writing, whether that be a brainstorm, a journal entry, research and documentation, a blog post, a single sentence or quote that moves me, or any other writing that is wanted or needed.
So far, so good on all fronts, especially in my triple intentions to blog with more consistency. Here is what’s been written in the past month:
Here on Under the Elderberry Tree, I’ve written eight posts since my January Currently update, including:
- My very first Limerick, about Eggs no less 🙂
- A re-introduction to Natalie the Explorer’s lovely Coffee Share link up
- Reflection on floods, birthdays, gone-too-soon cousins, and quiet time in On the Banks of Our Hearts
- And why/how I’m making some shifts away from certain apps and conveniences in an effort to vote with my dollar and my conscience in as many ways as possible by Removing Pennies from Dirty Pockets
On my Bold + Queer (family history) blog I wrote three posts about:
- The pocket notebook I use for my family history brainstorming and goal tracking
- Deciphering my great grandpa Scottie’s cause of death
- And reflecting on DNA testing during this time of year, known to those of us with surprises as Sibling Season
On the farm blog, Ever Growing Farm, I wrote three more posts about:
- The importance of seeding food, controlling narratives, and ever-important ripples of community during trying times
- Thoughts on unseasonably warm February temps
- And meditations and metaphors to reflect on during Stick Season
I’ve also written a few journal entries and devoted a smidge of time to the anthology piece I am working on (which is due in two weeks, eek!). Time to focus in!
There you have it…
Happenings currently feeding my heart and saving my sanity 🙂
What’s happening in your neck of the woods? Any good books, interesting shows, crafting, new or revisited music bringing joy or calm to your days throughout February? Please share all about what’s carrying you through your days.
I’m excited to be linking up with Sunday Salon at ReaderBuzz and The Sunday Post at Caffeinated Reviewer for the very first time this week and look forward to popping around and getting to know some new blogs and bloggers. Join me?
xoxo,
Melissa
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I wish my sense of the world actually had more UNcertainty… I think a lot of unspeakable results are inevitable right now, and I wish I could unthink them. But I see what you mean.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I completely understand what you mean. There is so much that can be seen that I’m already worried about. It’s the ripples and their potential impacts that keep me up at night, truly not knowing how this will all unfold. We can only do so much at this point, but I have to believe it all makes a difference.
I’m with you; we are in this together. I am trying to send messages to those who represent me (at least they were legally voted in, though I did not choose any of them) to encourage them to act. I am trying to avoid buying anything from these bad guys. I speak up. I am eager to hear what else can be done to tame this madness, this alternate universe swirling around me.
I’m glad you are finding things to do to move forward.
Hi Deb! It can all feel like a lot but I have to believe it all adds up. Do you use ResistBot to contact your reps? It’s one of my favorite tools because it’s so easy! We’ll come out the other side of this, forever changed for sure, but I still have hope for our collective future <3
I enjoyed Before the Coffee Gets Cold. I think I’ll enjoy The Once and Future Witches, but I don’t know when I’ll make time to get to it 🙂 I totally feel what you’re saying about life being okay, but that weird sense of knowing there is a lot of bad lately. It’s sort of hopeless…
Hi Becki! I was so pleased with the first When the Coffee Gets Cold and am excited to dive in to the remaining four. Have you read them all? I do hope you’ll find time soon to read The Once and Future Witches as it gave me hope in our troubled times. Our ancestors survived all levels of hell, I have to believe that we will too. One step, one day at a time.
I need to read Frozen River still!
I have read all the Before the Coffee Gets Cold books and saw the author at Melbourne Writers Festival last year. It was so much fun! I do find myself reading quite a few Japanese books with similar structures!
I hope you have a great week!
I highly recommend The Frozen River, it was beautifully written and full of such a range of emotions!
I am really enjoying the structure of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. How fun to see the author and the festival! I really need to get myself to book festivals. I want to, but something *always comes up. Time to shift my priorities, I think 🙂
Hope you have a wonderful week ahead!
I feel you regarding the dumpster fire. Like you, our lives are running smoothly in spite of it – although we are considering leaving the US. Thank you for reminding me The Frozen River. It’s on my TBR list. I need to bump it up to read soon.
Leaving the US seems like an option for quite a few… I just wish my ancestors didn’t all leave Ireland and Scotland so long ago because I’d happily establish roots there if they’d take me. You’re welcome for the the reminder about The Frozen River. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
I added The Frozen River to my list to get. Thanks for sharing it!
Oh yay! I found it very moving! I hope you like it, too 🙂
StoryGraph is great; I used to use Goodreads, but StoryGraph is such an improvement in so many ways!
It truly is. I didn’t use Goodreads a lot, but was *very happy to make the switch. Hope you have a great week ahead!
I’m Canadian and listening to credible news coming from Canada about how Washington is affecting my life is something that has become part of my daily life. I too am trying to keep myself distracted as life seems to be chaotic in many parts of my life. Take care and keep on keeping on.
Thank you, Jodie. It’s all such a hot mess and feels quite unreal. I’m trying to follow the BBC and independent journalists to try to gain a wider perspective on all the happenings but it’s all so rapid fire it’s hard to stay on top of while maintaining my sanity 😉 Keep your head up, it’s all we can do at this point.
I feel exactly the way you do. In Maine, my life feels so normal while DC seems to be a fire hose of sewerage. I, too, am looking forward to reading The Once and Future Witch. Those eggs are beautiful.
Hi Laurie! Such weird times we’re living through, all we can do is take it one moment at a time, I think, and try to keep our heads above the ever rising tides. I think you’ll really enjoy The Once and Future Witches, it gave me smidges of hope during these troubling times.
For some reason, in my old age, I have become fascinated with witches. Perhaps it’s because I have become a crone? 😉
I do believe it has something to do with stepping into our power at mid-age alongside the realization that it has been us women who have carried our communities forward since time immemorial. Plus, witches are just badass, so there’s that 😉
Love those badass witches! 😉
It is important in these uncertain times to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep plodding on and carve out our own happy place. I’d like to say I read a lot of books. I don’t and always feel guilty when fellow bloggers post their reading lists and offer reviews. Reading is a great way to escape.
Hi Carole! Yes, carving out happy places for ourselves is absolutely essential, and it’s all so individual (though it’s great when we find happy places in common with others). Please don’t be so hard on yourself about reading, it’s all personal and every page/minute spent in a book counts. It’s easy to see the big number of books some plow through and feel like anything less is…less than, but reading *should be an escape and a happy place, no matter how long each one takes or how long between that one and the next <3 Hope your week is going wonderfully!
Hi Melissa, You are right about escaping to a happy place through a book. I hope the books I wrote with my collab partner offer enjoyment. I think I became so burnt out with writing reading for me is harder now.
I’ve found that book reading, as with so many other enjoyable activities, comes in waves. There are times it’s all I want to do, but a solid break is also needed from time to time 🙂 I trust you’ll find your groove again!
Self-care is so very important. It took me a while to realize that but once I did, I’ve never looked back. I make time daily to meditate, read, do yoga, go for a quiet walk…etc. I have Frozen River on my TBR. It looks good.
I love C2C crochet! Enjoy your week!
I am so glad you have a handful of ways to care for yourself daily, it is so imperative! I hope you enjoy The Frozen River as much as I did, I do love a good historical fiction novel 🙂 Hope your week is going wonderfully!
My son who is 11 sends me music. Sometimes it’s new stuff but often it old song he thinks he discovered.. he is amazed when I have already heard of most of it.
Looks like some good books you have been listening too.
Ha! Yes, all the “new songs”. My daughter will sometimes battle me on the newness of a song but now thinks it’s pretty cool when I can tell he about it’s origin 🙂 Hope you’re having a great week!
I am exactly the same as you, when it comes to audiobooks vs physical books (or ebooks). It is super difficult to find time to sit down and read, where as audiobooks are convenient when commuting or doing various chores. As a consequence, my “reading” is almost 100% audiobooks these days. And I really need to move to Storygraph, as I love stats!
Audio does make everything a bit easier and since my dad was my first audio book narrator, I’m 100% behind it 🙂 My audio listening will slow a bit in the warmest months when I’m outside on the farm all day and listening for rattlesnakes while I work, but for now I’ll soak in all the words I can. I know you’ll love Storygraph, it makes all those hours look *so good*!
It’s important to take care of yourself! I like that StoryGraph graph you shared. I heard some good things about Before the Coffee Gets Cold and am curious about that one. And that’s great you still got some writing done. I mostly have been reading/ listening to books a lot as well as listening to some music. I also did some more blogging last month, which was nice.
Thank you so much for popping over and thank you for your supportive words! I’m so glad you’re finding some time for the things that bring you joy! WE have to take where we can find it, no? Enjoy every second!