Four things – little tidbits about nature, a beautiful human story from a surprising place, true words about hope, and annoying projects…

what I’m reading

I’m still finishing up a few of the longer books I’m reading, but I’m interspersing a few quotes a day from the little book, What I Know About Nature.  It’s a nice opportunity to hear about nature and why it is so inspiring and moving to us from people who can voice it well.  John Muir, Walt Whitman, EB White, and William Wordsworth are a few of the contributors.  It’s a nice little nugget of a book to pick up now and again.

what I’m watching

For movie night a few weeks ago, my youngest son suggested A Quiet Place Day One.  We watched A Quiet Place a few years ago and, even though horror isn’t my genre of choice, I thought it was a great movie.  They did a great job of balancing the science-fiction premise of the movie with an unfolding human story you cared about.  I wasn’t hopeful for A Quiet Place Day One, though.  It didn’t include any of the original characters and seemed like another regurgitation of information already covered in the previous two movies.

I was wrong.  The start was a little rough for me because I wasn’t sure where it was going but once the story’s heart became evident, I settled in and loved it.  In the midst of an end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenario, there is friendship, sacrifice, bravery, and beautiful moments that celebrate life’s simple pleasures and the comfort that is found in human connection.  It was so much more than what I expected and I continually complimented Calvin on his selection, much to his annoyance, for the next week.

And there is a cat.

what I’m loving

I’ve been listening to the podcast Being Human with Steve Cuss and the episodes I’ve listened to have been wonderful.  In one episode, he shared a quote I immediately had to write down.

“Hopefulness is not a neutral position. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism. Each redemptive or loving act as small as you like, such as reading to your little boy, or showing him the thing you love, or singing him a song, or putting on his shoes, keeps the Devil down in the hole. It says the world and its inhabitants have value and are worth defending. It says the world is worth believing in.”  – Nick Cave

what I’m working on

I’m still cleaning out the drawers in my studio, working bit by bit.  I’m still removing glue from the basement floor, bit by bit.  And I’m still writing my book, painting pieces of art, and doing all of the things I do each week for myself, to sell, and to share with others.

I do have a few “annoying projects” planned to work on over the weekend.  In addition to removing more carpet glue, I have a few holes in the wall that have needed to be patched for a while, so I’m going to knock that out.  One hole was from when we needed a water line repaired and another is from a cable outlet that is no longer used.  We have walked passed those holes so many times that we’re blind to them, but I know it won’t take long to apply some compound, sand it down, prime and paint, so I’m going to do it.