It feels like all too often we reach the end of a week and there’s something tragic that has touched people we know and love. I’ve been struggling to find the right words for the horrific events in Minnesota earlier this week — but the truth is, there are none. How can we justify, explain, or understand the horror of such acts? There is nothing right about what has happened here, or in so many other cases of injustice around the world.
And yet, in the midst of these things, supper still needs to be made, laundry still piles up, kids still laugh in the basement over something silly that happened while playing Minecraft, and the sun still shines.
Some days it feels like between school shootings, famine, war, political upheaval, and human greed, the world should just stop spinning.
But it hasn’t. Life keeps moving forward. And somehow it feels both wrong and also the only way forward to keep shining my little light right here.
Just as there are no “right” words, there is no “good” segue, because what has happened is truly horrible. So I will move on to talking about Happy Things, without ever losing sight of the fact that there are truly Horrible Things happening in the world around me.
VISIT COUNTDOWN
It is exactly two weeks before Birchie touches down in Nova Scotia. Cue excited squeals. We have plans! She has a spreadsheet! I made a printable! This is going to be so much funnnnnn!!!
I JUMPED!
I took the kids (and a friend) back to the bridge, and this time I jumped too! It always feels more daunting from the top looking down, but I did it — twice — and I was proud of myself. After that, I was perfectly happy to sit on the sidelines and cheer the kids on. They jumped several dozen times!
A few days later I went again with another mom and her boys. It was chillier, and she wasn’t dressed to jump, so I used that as my (very welcome) excuse to stay dry and cheer from the sidelines.
ICE CREAM
On the way home from the lake we stopped at Truman Farms for homemade ice cream. I admit, the prices give me sticker shock — but it’s good ice cream, it feels like an event, and the kids were eager to go.
The lines were insane but I do love their fruit “movie” posters (it’s a U-pick farm as well as a creamery).
I got Strawberry Rhubarb and it was delicious (with local strawberries and rhubarb).
HAPPY THINGS IN BLOGLAND
- Jean’s book is officially out! Congrats on the release of Superheroes.
- I cannot get over how many castles there are in Wales (it has the most castles per square km in Europe, so this makes sense). Gold stars to Rachel for making the most of living in the Castle Capital of the World!
- I got to do a walk-and-talk with Sarah. We both walked around our neighbourhoods…she just happened to be in Wisconsin (walking Annabel), while I was in Nova Scotia.
- Everyone who has comment response notifications. It’s a setting you can engage within WordPress (not sure about Blogger), but there is also a plugin (creatively titled Comment Reply Email) which will do the same thing. I am soooo bad about checking back in for comment responses, and love getting alerts in my e-mail. (If you haven’t been getting responses from my blog, check your junk mail as they can end up there.)
- Maria’s daughter has had incredible results from Early Oral Immunotherapy for a peanut allergy. Hooray!
- I am a giant curmudgeon when it comes to Halloween (and would skip every spooky season for the rest of my life if it were possible)…BUT, I know many people enjoy this sort of thing and Andrea rounded up some truly adorable holiday fall/Halloween decor.
- Snail mail always makes me happy. So I was thrilled to get not one, but two postcards in the mail this week. Thank you Birchie for sending greetings from BC; thanks to Engie and Julie who sent me a postcard from their bloggy visit in California.
- Over on Patreon, I’m launching a monthly gratitude series and the prompts (Lightkeeper’s Logs) for September are now live. I’m excited!
- ALL THE QUESTIONS FOR JOHN. It’s going to become a two-part guest post because there were so many questions.
BONUS HAPPY THINGS
- Fish chowder for supper, with fresh corn on the cob on the side.
- Rain. We needed rain so badly and we got some. Was it enough? No. But every little drop counts and I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see precipitation.
- Our sweet neighbours who always have extra produce in their garden and put out a sign and a basket with goodies for people to stop by and pick up.
- Good sleeps. I had some rough sleep mid-August and while I slept well at the lake, they were busy days and I tended to be up early. So…I made the most of being back in my own bed.
- Coffee and overnight oats on the deck. I’ve loved this morning ritual so much. SO MUCH.
And that’s a wrap.
I know some of you have had a tremendously difficult week, and I’m so sorry. I hope there have been little rays of sunshine amidst the clouds — but it’s okay if not. Sometimes life is bleak, and we can’t comprehend the “how” or the “why” behind the hardest things.
Feel free to share the hard things below, as well as any happy ones…
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Yay, you are going to have so much fun with Birchie! I am so excited for you guys. I have been looking at my videos from last year and the memories, oh the memories! My happy thing from the last week has been that I have had great weather. It rained a bit at night when I was hiking but each time, I was already snug as a bug in a rug, and then the next day it was always nice. I love this time of year!
I am with you. Fall is my happiest time of year – weather wise and, generally, mood wise as welL!
The hiking sounds awesome, especially with cozy evenings and sunshine during the day.
You jumped!!! Wow- so cool.
Hard things (as usual!) but given the real tragedies in the world, I can’t complain. The weather has been cool and beautiful. My cat is sleeping on me.
Enjoy the weekend!
I said several times today that it is starting to feel like fall!
Happy weekending to you, as well <3
Congrats on the jump, Elisabeth!!
Your blog-comment reminder is such a good point. Right now my replies don’t trigger an e-mail, which probably means they vanish into the void, never to be read. Definitely need to set up those notifications with a plugin!
And your neighbours with their free produce are absolute gold. Can’t beat having kind neighbours like that, it just makes everything feel better.
I am so bad about going back to check (just because of the time it takes/I forget), so it is such a delight when I get notifications (because I really do love reading the responses).
I know it feels insensitive with all the terrible things happening in the world… but we need Happy Things! I know that you, and most people reading this, are grateful that we have happy things to share.
Those fruit movie posters are hilarious… “well worth the prickles.” I’m glad you splurged for that ice cream!
My happy thing right now is also a hard thing- integrating a new kitten into our household! Somehow it’s harder than I thought it would be, ha. But, hard things are worth it!
I’m scooting right over to Andrea’s blog to look at he decor roundup!!!
A NEW KITTEN! I saw your post, Jenny!!
And I know how much you love fall and Halloween, so I hope you enjoyed the decor ideas!
It is good to have neighbors with gardens! We “helped” my SIL by taking some tomatoes and a cucumber off her hands this week, and they were delicious.
I can’t wait for John’s guest posts!
Yay for rain! Let’s get those wildfires out of here.
The weather is looking gorgeous for the weekend, so Hubs and I plan to hit the bike trail! After that I will be counting down the days until I can leave “in person” comments.
Hope you get amazing weather this weekend. All our trails are still closed due to the fire risk, but we’re making the most of walking on sidewalks around town and the kids are hoping to do another stint of bridge jumping. I’m sure if you asked nicely they’d jump with you in a few weeks when you’re here 😉
You’re going to have so much fun with Birchie!! Armed with her spreadsheet and your printable – could anything be more on brand? And then there’s me: “Let’s have margaritas!” You two will have the best time, she’s awesome, full stop.
I love that raspberry poster, my arms are currently covered with scratches from my raspberry bushes.
You jumped!!!
I don’t have any hard things to complain about – Mark came home for the weekend as his roommate has two – TWO – guests staying over in their tiny little apartment. So he’s here until Sunday, which is lovely. Jake started working yesterday, he’s working harvest at the vineyard. He’s fourth generation *insert last name here* to work on that property, isn’t that cool?
Ha. It is very “on brand” isn’t it!
Awww, enjoy all the time with the whole family home. And that is so cool that Jake is one in a long line of family members to help with the grape harvest.
It is weird how the world goes on after a tragedy. That was my thought as we drove home from work on Wednesday in depressed silence. I saw people walking their dogs and talking to neighbors. It was sort of jarring to think about how most of us would have a fairly normal evening while hundreds of families were comforting their children or making preparations to bury a child. But of course we have to keep living our lives and find ways to honor those who were lost. I just don’t know how I would go on if I was one of the families that lost a child. It makes me shudder to think about it.
It’s hard to transition from that downer start to a comment, but the good news is that I’m at my parents. I drove up after work last night. There’s a memorial service for my uncle tomorrow morning. He passed in March but his daughter lives several states away and she was very pregnant so they decided to postpone to service. We’re having a large family gathering tonight so the silver lining is seeing a lot of family. My mom’s family is pretty far flung these days with several siblings in Florida and the rest in the Midwest so it’s a treat to get together – I just wish it was for a happier reason. It will be good to celebrate the life of my uncle and lay him to rest. Phil stayed back so send me good vibes that my children are not rambunctious during the service tomorrow….
It is so jarring and incomprehensible.
I hope everything goes very smoothly with the service and the drive back alone with the kids. What a rough week you’ve had (not nearly as relaxing and restorative as you had imagined, I know), but I’m sure the boys have made wonderful memories with your parents and I’m glad they were elsewhere during the horrible events of earlier this week.
<3
Happy thimgs:
– Started Bible Recap. I’ve wanted to ever since you recommended it and now the Bible study I’m a part of is going to do it! I already got the book and started in the OT (unfortunately our Bible study group is going to start in the NT, not sure why, NT makes more sense after knowing the OT… rant over).
– Kids loving their classes (son Taekwondo, daughter art)
– Nice weather
Katy, I’m so happy you’re going to go through the Bible Recap. I hope it’s a real blessing in your life. I found it incredibly impactful.
So much good stuff here! Thank you for that. I especially LOVED those fruit movie posters. How clever! I had some homemade blackberry ice cream last Friday during a road trip we took. The berries were from a farm near the ice cream shop. It was delicious. I love that your neighbor gives away produce. The only thing extra we’ve had this year are cucumbers and I gave some to my neighbor who is always so kind to us. She’s driven Middle Child to work a few times when I wasn’t able and she’s always buying gifts every time I have a new grandchild. She’s just so sweet and I’m always trying to repay her somehow. I hope your weekend is full of more happiness. Whenever I get down about the news, I think about how my grandparents lived through WW1 & 2 and how scary that must have been.
When I was visiting with my parents, we talked some about the war time experiences of my grandparents and it boggles my mind how much they endured. And their great grandparents lived through TWO World Wars which is just…inconceivable to me.
I’m so glad you have a kind, supportive neighbour. And I’m sure she appreciates fresh (free) produce.
I love the picture of you jumping, it’s great!
Happy things:
– the HRT to combat my peri menopause (or late reproduction stage) symptoms is working, and I’m sleeping much better. I also have a lot more patience for my kids and feel like I’m able to react softer.
– I got a promotion!!! I’ve been working towards this for a while now, and given the news around the company performance I really didn’t expect to make senior and get a pay rise (per January heh). It was such amazing news, that my boss thought I was doing a good job and managed to push this through. I feel good 😊
I’m so glad the HRT is working for you! Hooray!
A promotion. That’s amazing!!!! Congratulations and I’m so glad you feel good. You should be so proud of all your hard work and what a satisfying feeling to have it noticed, appreciated, AND rewarded.
Thank you for the happy link! I will definitely have to do a better castles post someday because I love how many castles there are here in Wales.
Sleep and Ice Cream are two very happy things so I am glad they have made it to your happy list!
Also, that bridge jump seems scary! They have a lot of ads here about not jumping off things into water, how do you know how deep the river is? it looks super high up! I would be very afraid! I am glad you had another mom to watch from the sidelines with you the second visit. 🙂
People have been jumping into this canal for over 50 years. It’s artificially maintained via a dam, so it doesn’t get low in drought conditions and there are no rocks. I don’t let my kids dive, but none of us has managed to touch the bottom yet, even jumping from that height.
It does feel scary, but it’s exhilarating, too.
I am so hesitant with both heights and water, your bravery is impressive! This week is so oppressive and sad and hard – but my heart needed a post like this and loved reading the happy things across your family and your people.
I jumped twice and that was enough. It was scary and that instant after you jump and you know there’s no going back feels a bit crazy. But it’s also fun and I’m glad I did it!
I want some rain too! I miss staying at home on a Sunday afternoon, cozying up while raining outside. It’s dry season in brasilia so no rain until November. meanwhile I’ll enjoy the beautiful sunset and sunrise.
I love your morning breakfast spot. I always feel rushed to enjoy a quiet breakfast.
It is so far from fall weather here. That’s October for us, September can be (and usually is) hotter than July. Maybe not the average over the whole month, but I feel like we often have some really hot days in September. Sigh. I WANT RAIN and we won’t get that for months and months.
Yay, you jumped! That looks like fun!
The tragedy in Minnesota is so horrific, and I hate this particular aspect of my country. There is a lot to dislike about the US right now, but this one happens no matter who is in office, and I hate it.
I’ve been getting so much satisfaction from getting rid of things around my house. Some of it is a real paradigm shift. Like a book that I read and loved. Does that mean I need to own it? Sometimes the answer is yes, but sometimes…no. It can go and if I ever feel like I want to read it again, that’s what the library is for.
There’s a little ad at the bottom of your blog (has it always been there and I didn’t notice? Or is it new?) and the first ad that popped up was for the exact face cream that I bought yesterday (in person, not online), and I thought, THAT’S WEIRD. But then the next ad was for Old Spice, which I have never bought, so it was just coincidence.
No, the ads are new. I’ve set them to “medium” so hopefully they don’t seem too overwhelming (medium is one step down from “optimal” and two from “high”)!
Our relationship with our things is…complicated. And there isn’t a right/wrong answer or a one size fits all solution. I’m so glad you’ve been so successful at downsizing things and it’s wonderful to see many items going on to live another life via Goodwill or being able to give them to people directly via Buy Nothing.
I saw an interview on the news of someone- maybe a college professor, who made note of another country (Scotland?) and they had a horrible mass shooting years ago and then changes were made (gun control or something- I apologize for being so vague, I was listening to the news while working out and retained the basic message) and the country has had no other mass shootings since. I do not understand why there is not significant change happening as a result of all the school shootings. Maddening and senseless. *sigh*
On a much more basic/insignificant note: I have been struggling with my contact lenses for weeks and the doc office fit me in Friday and I am trying some resetting g drops, etc and I am hopeful (since I’ve had no issues for a few hours). Proof that it is the little things.
Kay had no school yesterday which bummed me out bc that’s my day off, but I powered thru and took her and a classmate to the zoo.
I used to wear contacts and had so many issues with the fit and I literally could not concentrate on anything else. It’s like having an eyelash permanently in your eye and so annoying. Hope it gets fixed asap.
Glad you were able to make the most of a day off and go adventuring. I’m sure you would rather have had that time to do things solo, but I’m sure Kay and her friend appreciated (even if only subconsciously) your efforts <3
Thanks for the mention, Elisabeth 🙂 Superheroes’ release was definitely one of the brighter spots in my week. It’s hard not to let world events turn everything sour. Just last week we sang an old hymn in church: We’ll Understand it Better By and By. I worked for four years as a tutor in a little Catholic school where we had a children’s mass every Friday. I just kept picturing those beautiful children. Looking forward to a Peaceable Kingdom in the “By and By.”
At least once a week, if not more, I quote the end of Revelation to myself. Come quickly, indeed. It really is my deepest hope and what keeps me going in such a dark, divisive world. Some things I will never be able to comprehend and it must make God so sad to watch people senselessly take human lives.
Happy things is what keeps us going in these rough times. It is hard to read all the terrible news.
Oh I would love a neighbor who puts out free produce. But I had one who set out apples. I took two for testing unfortunately once was moldy and I had to through it out. I wanted to make apple sauce. Now they are all gone.
The cucumbers they leave out are SO crisp. I had some yesterday and today with my lunch and they were delicious. Better than anything I could buy in a store, that’s for sure. And I love the price.
You jumped! That’s amazing. Way to go!
Those fruit movie posters are so clever. I loved them!
Let’s see… my happy things from this week are lots of good social time with friends, a great mid-year review, and a nice lazy long weekend. 🙂
I jumped!!!!
A lazy long weekend sounds…perfect!
You jumped, yay 🙂 And ice cream makes everything better. Just sayin’.
I agree with you, it’s incredibly weird to be bombarded with horrific news every week and still having to go about life as if everything was normal. But what else is there to do? It’s not like the world stops for any of it. Sigh. I am glad you found some happy things. I am always looking for happy things myself these days.
The cognitive dissonance we are all experiencing makes it so darn difficult to just get through the days. Thank you for sharing your happy things – seeing the light is one way we can beat back the dark. <3