Yay: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. If you have seen or spoken to me in the last two months, unfortunately this book is all I talk about. Gifted to me by my friend Ravenna, it changed my life. It’s the funniest book I’ve ever read?? But I also had to leave a coffee shop due to hysterical sobbing while reading other sections. It’s got it all! Grief; and why we love being alive and don’t want it to end; and why it’s ok to let go in the end; and why not knowing what comes after is frightening, and why even when you think you know, it’s still frightening; and why we really really really need love (in all forms: parental, romantic, platonic, etc) and connection and community; and why losing someone, permanently, is so unendingly painful.

Bonus Yay: The End of Firpo in the World. A short story also by Saunders, also recommended to me by Ravenna, and also the cause of actual guffaws and moments later, shoulder-shaking tears. A quick read, and very worth your time.

Nay: My rendition of Somewhere of the Rainbow that Ida used to request nightly but now when I try and sing it to her she bursts out laughing in my face and says, “no! no song”

Yay: Mamdani!!!

Yay: The Sellout by Paul Beatty. The book I read immediately after Lincoln in the Bardo, and proved to be an abrupt switch to a completely different style and subject matter, but just as funny and hard to put down.

Yay: Love is Strange by Mickey and Silvia. I’ve never seen Dirty Dancing….so I didn’t realize this song was from the movie (?) but I find myself wanting to listen to it a lot.

Yay: The news that Denis Villeneuve will direct the next James Bond movie.Yes, I’ve waxed on about the greatness of Dune before (and will again) but Bladerunner 2049 is even more of an all-time fave. I am (v v v) pleasantly surprised by this news!

Yay: Rereading The Ladies’ Delight, previously one of my favorite books. But can it stand a chance against Saunders…

Yay: 3 weeks on Vashon Island laying in the grass, in the sand, in the dirt, in the Sound

Y/Nay: 3 weeks on Vashon feeling the immense/unattainable closeness of my dad but unable to consider being anywhere near his former house for fear of overriding the very tenuous sense of his presence with the tactile realization that someone else lives in his house and I cannot go inside, and I certainly cannot find him sitting in a chair in the sun, waiting for me.

N/Yay: Odette asking spontaneously if we can “go and see Bob now?” and me saying sadly no, to which she replied, “Ok. Maybe tomorrow.”

Yay: This amazing article about Britain’s NHS (national health system). I did not know the history! And I love knowing it. And I love/fear how socialized healthcare is so interconnected to unionizing, capitalism, quality of life, and literal being alive.

Yay: The Punchline. I had to interview an NHL player for work. Knowing nothing of hockey, Ravenna recommended I listen to this extremely fun episode. I highly recommend!

Yay: George Saunders’ substack. I have to be stopped!!!!

Two is many. Especially when it comes places that feel like home. And when you find one, in our case Amsterdam, you let one slip, in our case Vashon, just a little.

Returning, as a family, for the first time since moving away meant feeling the swell of a robust community. We had parents and godparents and closest friends ready to hang out, babysit, take a walk, be right there. It meant being barefoot, and eating salmon berries, and *trigger warning* endless pickleball. The jostle of group meals, of bumping into lifelong acquaintances, and the great calm of knowing a place so well. It meant identifying the main and only downside of Vashon (aside from the general ghoulishness of being part of the USA) is that it is not where we live.

And returning, as a family, for the first time back to Amsterdam meant a return to walking and biking, the swell of satisfaction in building a community here, worse food and better everything else (jk). But mostly it meant a real return to the happy, relaxed certainty that we are “finally home.”

A rambling intro to a gallery ode to our too-brief time spent in the woods:

Next time I plan on writing 1 word. Just one. I’ll pick the world’s greatest, most powerful word and cement it in history as such. There will be no going back. There will be no discussion. One word TO RULE THEM ALL. #ad #RingsOfPower #SponsoredWord

P.S. Please enjoy these photos of Lucinda hoisting a delighted Odette into the air, 3 years apart