1. I have reveled, rocked, and rolled in spring which is coming upon us so quickly here, especially paying attention to the sky and the newest tender green.
2. I have been lonely and at the same time, ecstatic at my aloneness.
3. I made soup and have done other things involving my kitchen, my garden, my heart.
4. I have talked with other women in various places and settings, groupings, and numbers.
1. Got a pneumonia vaccine that kicked my ass around the block.
2. Stood on the deck in my pajamas for the first time this year to drink my coffee and be present with the owls and frogs and bats and dogs and trees.
3. Spent an entire day in bed reading.
4. Ate artichokes and laughed with my son in my bright kitchen in what felt like a religious ceremony because when he was little I always told him artichokes were mysterious alien vegetables and we always made a ceremony out of eating them.
5. I got a colonoscopy which of course made me feel very adulty and afterward I came home and ate a gigantic pile of spaghetti which made me feel less adulty but it tasted so very good.
E, thank you for inspiring me to write something for the first time this year. ♥️🦋
I made a pot of soup from scratch, I comforted a kid who lost their beloved pet, I cared for four bodies (I’m in massage school), I single-parented for a few days while my spouse traveled (which involved more than 5 things), and I called my grandpa who is living alone for the first time in 90years. In short, more care work than Leon’s done in his whole life.
I laughed and laughed: Leon. Your list is so noble and is reminding me to pick up Lydia’s new book, the books you’re teaching were among my hs favorites and to find the substack you mentioned. I too want to be weirdly comforted. Have a good weekend!
1. Made a lot of food - soups, stews, curries, and a delicious Tempeh Kecap
2. Hosted our queer niece and fiancee
3. Sent emails of support to all my federal worker friends
4. Resolved to counter the three poisons of greed, hatred, and ignorance by practicing, to the best of my ability, generosity, loving kindness, and wisdom
John, I admire how you support your federal worker friends. You inspired me to upgrade to a paid subscription for one friend because what if she needs a back up plan?
Looks like the whole gang is here, including Antonia!
1. I spent a scary amount of time talking myself off the ledge of despair over so much of what is happening in our country/ the world.
2. Began, again, the comeback trail to rebuilding muscle in my body, making physicality easier. Slowly but surely it is working.
3. Read a lot of Substack; learning to be judicious about what I follow. Discovering “ new“ writers through the writing of people I’ve been following for a while.
4. Spoke twice to my 98 year-old, last living paternal uncle. He recently lost his wife of 75 years (lives in Israel)).
5. I am working to whittle down the growing stack of Books that I have sitting around the house waiting to be read.
Perhaps if Leon had had a teacher like you we would not be in this mess. I’d say Damn Elizabeth that was quite a week but I know you do this monumental work Every. Single. Week.
Elizabeth, I buy gel prints off off Etsy, and then, using gel pens, I do artwork atop them. A gel print allows a bit of traction between the paper and the pen. I’ll photograph some tomorrow with daylight. 👍❤️
1. Went to the chiropractor, and brought much relief to my rotator cuff. Later that day, reached out to catch my granddaughter, and that chiropractic magic was for naught.
2. Learned how to dispose of the melted dry ice packing from the box of prepared meals I had delivered for my disabled brother. Who knew that frozen air could be so complicated?
3. Tackled a chore that should’ve been done during the pandemic: cleaning out the guest room closet. Now, my visiting relative will have some hanger space, rather than wading through forgotten items like my Obama/Biden lawn sign, electric curlers and my millennial daughter’s high school notebooks. (BTW -- that and more got moved to an empty cabinet)
4. Decided to throw my Weight Watchers points out the window and indulge in decadence while my relative’s here.
5. Made it my goal to comment, post, or restack at least five Substack writers I follow. Easy to do when the inbox is full of their brilliant work.
1. I published my Substack issue #31 called "Thoreau, McKibben, the Storm and me" that I had been revising and revising because my 95 year old mother is ill, and I didn't want her to be upset. She loved it.
2. Figured out the composting toilet.
3. Ignored the FEMA debate that is going on in our North Carolina neighborhood over fixing the long road up the hill, five months post-Helene.
4. I fell in love with Bill McKibben for the thousandth time because he published the snow reporter's story from Sugarbush. Leon...imagine being a 25 year old American woman who wants to have children and teach them to ski at Sugarbush but she knows she can't afford to raise children here and there won't be any snow left at Sugarbush anyway. The Sugarbush people pulled her report off their website as the faux hillbilly-- who asked the president of Ukraine if he ever said thank you -- was skiing at Sugarbush that day.
5. I took care of eleven people. (I have the Pilates studio in the town that did not have potable water for 53 days after September 27th when Helene took a weird left hand turn into the mountains of Southern Appalachia.)
6. I told Pappy, I love him over and over. Pappy is my dog.
1. I have reveled, rocked, and rolled in spring which is coming upon us so quickly here, especially paying attention to the sky and the newest tender green.
2. I have been lonely and at the same time, ecstatic at my aloneness.
3. I made soup and have done other things involving my kitchen, my garden, my heart.
4. I have talked with other women in various places and settings, groupings, and numbers.
5. I have loved my beloveds the best I know how.
6. I have despaired.
1. Fed my family every night, a homemade meal.
2. Provided homemade lunches to my grandson for his school lunches.
3. Obtained an doctor appointment on short notice for my disabled daughter, and took her to said appointment.
4. Called my provincial (Canada) representatives and called out their corruption.
5. Dealt with my depression about the general fuckery in the world by walking my dogs and getting some fresh air.
LEON 😒
Amazing how people who are actually doing useful things don't keep track of every single item, Leon. Let's see if we can narrow it down ...
1. Spent over 48 hours dealing with a kid issue that involved driving to a different county and staying overnight.
2. Started some vegetable seeds for this coming summer.
3. Made dinner and cleaned up after several times.
4. Got on the rowing machine for the first time in 2 years and tried to persuade myself I might be able to ease my way out of Long Covid.
5. Called my family in Russia. Tried not to despair.
BONUS ROUND: 6. Tried my damndest not to hate you with every particle of my being, Leon.
5 things I did this week
1. Got a pneumonia vaccine that kicked my ass around the block.
2. Stood on the deck in my pajamas for the first time this year to drink my coffee and be present with the owls and frogs and bats and dogs and trees.
3. Spent an entire day in bed reading.
4. Ate artichokes and laughed with my son in my bright kitchen in what felt like a religious ceremony because when he was little I always told him artichokes were mysterious alien vegetables and we always made a ceremony out of eating them.
5. I got a colonoscopy which of course made me feel very adulty and afterward I came home and ate a gigantic pile of spaghetti which made me feel less adulty but it tasted so very good.
E, thank you for inspiring me to write something for the first time this year. ♥️🦋
Oh Leon. He wishes he had a life as rich and purposeful. I added a few new books to my list. Thank you. And wow, wish I could take your English class!
I made a pot of soup from scratch, I comforted a kid who lost their beloved pet, I cared for four bodies (I’m in massage school), I single-parented for a few days while my spouse traveled (which involved more than 5 things), and I called my grandpa who is living alone for the first time in 90years. In short, more care work than Leon’s done in his whole life.
It’s so hard to watch your kid grieve the loss of a beloved pet🩵
Beethoven once said “only the pure of heart can make a good soup.” 🩵
1. Wrote and drew in a journal (wrote a few haikus—do you think Leon would count that as TWO things?)
2. Baked a less than perfect batch of egg bread (but it tastes good!)
3. Washed my hair
4. Listened to and tried to identify the chorus of migrating birds in my garden
5. Called my M🤬GA representatives to ask them to vote no on the House “budget” blueprint
I no longer know how to count the pleasure I take in resisting tyranny.
I would love to be in your English class!
I laughed and laughed: Leon. Your list is so noble and is reminding me to pick up Lydia’s new book, the books you’re teaching were among my hs favorites and to find the substack you mentioned. I too want to be weirdly comforted. Have a good weekend!
Brilliant! (I think Leon would fire me if i gave him my list.)
1. Made a lot of food - soups, stews, curries, and a delicious Tempeh Kecap
2. Hosted our queer niece and fiancee
3. Sent emails of support to all my federal worker friends
4. Resolved to counter the three poisons of greed, hatred, and ignorance by practicing, to the best of my ability, generosity, loving kindness, and wisdom
5. Struggled with the loving kindness part.
John, I admire how you support your federal worker friends. You inspired me to upgrade to a paid subscription for one friend because what if she needs a back up plan?
Looks like the whole gang is here, including Antonia!
The ones who are left are holding the fort right now. That was thoughtful of you.
Yes, good to see the usual suspects!
1. I spent a scary amount of time talking myself off the ledge of despair over so much of what is happening in our country/ the world.
2. Began, again, the comeback trail to rebuilding muscle in my body, making physicality easier. Slowly but surely it is working.
3. Read a lot of Substack; learning to be judicious about what I follow. Discovering “ new“ writers through the writing of people I’ve been following for a while.
4. Spoke twice to my 98 year-old, last living paternal uncle. He recently lost his wife of 75 years (lives in Israel)).
5. I am working to whittle down the growing stack of Books that I have sitting around the house waiting to be read.
Be well everyone.
Perhaps if Leon had had a teacher like you we would not be in this mess. I’d say Damn Elizabeth that was quite a week but I know you do this monumental work Every. Single. Week.
Leon,
1) I have spent everyday enjoying life with my dog, Mr. CHP’s. We do not dwell upon his terminal cancer. We have no time for that.
2) Not unlike, Elizabeth, I’ve been baking sourdough bread. Caraway rye.
3) I’ve been leaf raking and prepping soil in my garden.
4) Fully engaged this week in Substack foreign and domestic policy debates. (I am not a professional.)
5) Completed three gel print pieces for upcoming journals.
What are gel print pieces?
Elizabeth, I buy gel prints off off Etsy, and then, using gel pens, I do artwork atop them. A gel print allows a bit of traction between the paper and the pen. I’ll photograph some tomorrow with daylight. 👍❤️
1. Went to the chiropractor, and brought much relief to my rotator cuff. Later that day, reached out to catch my granddaughter, and that chiropractic magic was for naught.
2. Learned how to dispose of the melted dry ice packing from the box of prepared meals I had delivered for my disabled brother. Who knew that frozen air could be so complicated?
3. Tackled a chore that should’ve been done during the pandemic: cleaning out the guest room closet. Now, my visiting relative will have some hanger space, rather than wading through forgotten items like my Obama/Biden lawn sign, electric curlers and my millennial daughter’s high school notebooks. (BTW -- that and more got moved to an empty cabinet)
4. Decided to throw my Weight Watchers points out the window and indulge in decadence while my relative’s here.
5. Made it my goal to comment, post, or restack at least five Substack writers I follow. Easy to do when the inbox is full of their brilliant work.
Pray tell about the dry ice disposal!
Is this the coolest Substack?
I'm glad you showed up in my feed!!
so, Leon...
1. I published my Substack issue #31 called "Thoreau, McKibben, the Storm and me" that I had been revising and revising because my 95 year old mother is ill, and I didn't want her to be upset. She loved it.
2. Figured out the composting toilet.
3. Ignored the FEMA debate that is going on in our North Carolina neighborhood over fixing the long road up the hill, five months post-Helene.
4. I fell in love with Bill McKibben for the thousandth time because he published the snow reporter's story from Sugarbush. Leon...imagine being a 25 year old American woman who wants to have children and teach them to ski at Sugarbush but she knows she can't afford to raise children here and there won't be any snow left at Sugarbush anyway. The Sugarbush people pulled her report off their website as the faux hillbilly-- who asked the president of Ukraine if he ever said thank you -- was skiing at Sugarbush that day.
5. I took care of eleven people. (I have the Pilates studio in the town that did not have potable water for 53 days after September 27th when Helene took a weird left hand turn into the mountains of Southern Appalachia.)
6. I told Pappy, I love him over and over. Pappy is my dog.
7. I practiced kinship.
Thank you, Elizabeth for this very cool idea. 🌱🌿💙