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1. The Last Songs I’ll Write About You, a new album from BLÜ EYES. If you are working to let go of something, this is a great break up album.

2. Good stuff from Seth Godin: Your preference is not universal and Captives of memetic desire.

3. What counts as enough? “An exploration of money, stuff, and spending.”

4. The Optimization Sinkhole from Anne Helen Petersen. “What if there’s no such thing as the perfect coffee maker?”

5. Dead Stars: Poet Laureate Ada Limón’s Stunning Love Poem to Life.

6. Poetry from Rosemerry Wathola Trommer: Making a Difference, and Blood, Like Salt Water, and More than Happiness, and Momentary Altar.

7. Lots of talk, still too little change to policing three years after George Floyd’s murder. “The fault lines that widened in the aftermath of the Floyd murder are troublesome and continue to present serious peril as the nation struggles to deal with public safety and the role of police. But there are opportunities for consensus-based constructive change, if we’re smart enough to grab them.”

8. Conservative attacks on US abortion and trans healthcare come from the same place. “Both are part of a project to roll back the victories of the feminist and gay rights movements and inscribe in law a firm definition and hierarchy of gender.”

9. The State Of Being A Published Writer In 2023 Is Really Weird, And A Little Worrisome from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

10. Everyone Is My Teacher: Three Poems / Three Lessons from Andrea Gibson.

11. 36 questions to stay in love.

12. Lewis Capaldi: Tiny Desk Concert.

13. How To Resist The Seduction Of Getting Things Done from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

14. Seven Existential Questions on A Grace Full Life. What a great set of prompts.

15. Welcome to the Department of Make Believe from Laurie Wagner. “I’ve been working with adults most of my life, and so much of the work we’re doing in Wild Writing has become about love. At first I thought it was writing I was teaching over 20 years ago, but it’s become all about listening and trusting the sound of our own voices – the stuff inside of us that we haven’t always had the courage to bring out.”

16. The Wisdom of The Essay from Summer Brennan. “Some thoughts from a recent craft seminar with award-winning writer Alexander Chee.”

17. 10 Minimalist Tips To Help You Simplify Your Home with Tammy Strobel on Be More With Less.

18. Understanding Rigidity, Elasticity and Trauma.

19. What Random Finds Do You Swear By? Make sure to read the comments.

20. Darkness is Not Absolute from Frederick Joseph. “The gift of like minds, and the weight of what’s to come.”

21. Micro Activism: How You Can Make a Difference in the World (without a Bullhorn) by Omkari Williams is available for preorder. Omkari’s work and wisdom have been such a blessing to me.

22. 8 Ways Journals Are a Sensitive Introvert’s Best Friend.

23. Stay Above the Noise from Patti Digh’s Orange Desk.

24. Visual Frameworks. “Visual frameworks are patterns to help you think creatively, reframe challenging situations, and imagine possible strategies and solutions. Think of a situation or challenge that’s on your mind right now, and click an image below.” In related news, Exploring stuckness with visual frameworks.

25. Midjourney-Created Fake Ikea Bomb Shelter Furnishings Catalog.

26. Playing a religious character without making faith the punchline. “I started watching this show a few weeks ago called Somebody Somewhere on HBO and raved about it to anyone who would listen. A lot of things struck me about it — the fullness of the queer characters for one, and the authenticity of the dialogue. But even more so for me, it stood out because of the way it represented religion through a character named Joel.” I adore this show.

27. Coincidences That Can Only Happen Once In A Lifetime.

28. The Unseen Side Of Everyday Things.

29. This.

30. The exciting possibilities that open up when you rip up your lawn. “In ‘Soil,’ Dungy recounts taking a grass and rockscape lawn in a suburban neighborhood and transforming it into an ecosystem for birds, bugs, rabbits and native plants. We talked together about the implications of gardening as a political and social act.”

31. Curious Squirrels and Rambunctious Hares Form a Miniature Menagerie of Felted Wildlife.

32. Recipe I want to try: Maple Bars. These are some of my favorite things and my mom used to make them — so good.

33. 39 award-winning photos that show some of the most vibrant colors around the world.

34. The Color Purple | Official Trailer (video). “A bold new take on the beloved classic.”

35. Tina Turner, rock and roll icon, dead at 83.

36. Ashley Judd Reflects on a Year of Grief on The New York Times. “The actress and mental health advocate shares how she coped while mourning the loss of her mother, the country music singer Naomi Judd, who died by suicide.”

37. Six Years In the Making, the Elaborate ‘Grand Jardin’ by Lisa Nilsson Pushes the Boundaries of Paper.

38. Amazingly intricate paper sculptures of animals and natural landscapes by Calvin Nicholls.

39. Stunning images of Indigenous peoples in their traditional splendor. “Jimmy Nelson has gone all over the earth to photograph native peoples at their proudest moments and to show you their soul.”

40. A military police officer-turned-pacifist makes garden tools from guns.

1. Morning walks. This time of year I start to revisit places we haven’t walked in a while, as we are avoiding the ticks and mosquitoes by the river. There’s a short trail through a small natural area close by, Puente Verde (which means “green bridge”). It’s 37 acres that used to be an agricultural site with a single tree and a green bridge. One of my favorite things about Fort Collins is they do make a real effort to maintain pockets of green space all through town and we also have a really great trail system. There’s also a baby cow at The Farm that we got to visit this week.

2. Practice. The past few weeks have been rough — people I love dealing with physical and mental illnesses, household and material upsets that have to be dealt with, medical procedures and conditions that aren’t any fun, temporarily being off HRT which means all my symptoms are back until further notice, and disappointing shifts in friendships. Practice means that even when things are difficult, I have a way to be with it without losing myself.

Power went out, was temporarily restored and then fixed two days later

3. Spring. So green, so much in bloom. I’ve been slowly weeding patches that need it, spending just enough time to feel like I accomplished something but not so much that I’m sore and irritated by the process. We are going to put our garden in this weekend. I want tomatoes and cucumbers for sure, and would like some zucchini, basil, watermelon, pumpkins, and more strawberries too. I also would like some columbine, Colorado bee plants, marigolds, tulip and daffodil bulbs, peony poppies, and a yellow peony in memory of Rita. Eventually I’d also like a redbud and peach tree and more lilacs along the back fence. I would also like to request that the grasshopper population of the past few years simmer down.

4. Small group training with Shelby and the gang. I was able to start back this week, just being careful and not lifting too much weight. That along with the pool and going back to yoga on Sunday mornings with Jamie has been really lovely. I’m am so grateful for what my body can do, how forgiving it can be.

5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. Eric finally wrapped up the semester and gets to take some time off now. With him home today and everything I’d normally do on a Monday cancelled because of the holiday, it’s practically a four day weekend.

My hair is getting more gray and I don’t mind at all

Bonus joy: getting my new phone activated and playing with my new camera, how Ringo has been helping me keep the squirrels away from the bird feeder, Dr. Gaffney squeezing us in yesterday morning, tickets to a comedy show, planting seeds, hanging out and texting with Chloe’, Leslie coming to aqua aerobics, poetry, my office being cleaned up, the hydromassage chair, the sauna, making each other laugh, texting with Mom and Chris, naps, almost anything fresh baked, tacos, a crispy gala apple with some peanut butter, chips and dip, a warm shower, that corner of the couch, down blankets and pillows, blackout curtains, other people’s gardens and dogs, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.