jillsalahub

1. Morning walks. Eric came with us on our days this week and that was fun, even though he should probably still be resting his ankle more, as it’s not quite healed up yet. There were a few mornings that were really warm and muggy and I don’t love that. I am just not a true fan of summer: ticks, mosquitoes, heat, and being sweaty are not my friends. I do love how it means people are watering their grass in the early morning so Ringo gets to take breaks and play in their sprinklers.

2. Practice. I feel really lucky that the one yoga class I’m teaching right now is always full of some of my favorite people. This was something I learned pretty early on teaching yoga (and meditation and writing): I prefer working with a smaller group of regulars and am really not so interested in teaching “drop in” classes. The more I get to know my students, the better I’m able to guide and facilitate their practice, and the more fun I have. And, since teaching for a highly sensitive introvert is an extreme sport, whatever I can do to make myself more comfortable, all the better.

3. Summer season food. I may not like the bugs or the weather, but I adore the food. Ice cream (Tillamook has a limited edition salty caramel pretzel flavor right now that is so yummy), all the various produce like watermelon and corn (can’t wait for the Palisade peaches), and things like berry pie and turkey burger and baked beans or potato salad, which I made for dinner last night and always makes me think of my mom — who continues to do well, although is pretty confused sometimes.

4. Books. I have read so many good ones lately. I keep thinking I am just on a lucky streak but every single thing I read, I just love and enjoy so much, and have for like the past three years. In fact, once I finish this and the laundry and put clean sheets on the bed, I’m going to get back to some reading, which typically leads to a nap, so two of my most favorite things. 🙂

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. Seriously, other than the weather and bugs, this summer could last forever and I’d be so happy here with them.

The exact spot where Dexter used to hang out 💔

Bonus joy: texting with Chris and Chloe’, stopping at Your Best Day Ever so Ringo can get some love from Theresa, clean sheets, listening to Dateline on satellite radio while I make dinner, listening to podcasts, streaming and on demand content, the hydromassage chair, sitting in the sauna, seeing Sally and Frank in aqua aerobics, being able to teach an hour of yoga without any real plan other than a couple of poses and trusting myself, the dreamy morning light in the living room when we close the front curtains to keep out the early heat, a/c and our whole house fan, gentle rainstorms, pie crust, libraries and librarians, poetry and poets, comedy, true crime, music, ladybugs, dragonflies, butterflies, hummingbirds, some spiders, other people’s dogs and kids and gardens, quilts, down pillows and blankets, the way when Ringo gets back from a walk he wants to get rowdy and howl for a bit, the blooms beginning on our golden rain trees, breakfast burritos, sharing reels and memes with Shellie and Carrie and Kari and how some shares by me are the same for all three and some are specifically for one of them, chocolate flowers and how excited Eric gets to smell them now that he knows what they are, how Jen’s part of the neighborhood has so many hummingbirds, canceled plans, leftovers, the way Eric will sit out in the backyard no matter how hot it is, naps, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.

1. Poetry: If She Could and After the War and Middle Aged Woman Cries Alone In Her House from Julie Barton, The Cure for it All (Part ll) from Julia Fehrenbacher, Small Pleasures and The Closed Door from James Crews, and The state[s] of the world: What a poem can and cannot do from Pádraig Ó Tuama in which he shares My Poem Will Not Save You by Dunya Mikhail, How to Be a Stone: Three Poems for Trusting Time from and one by Maria Popova, The Green Lion Devouring the Sun: alchemy, poetry, and a couple prompts from Alix Klingenberg, Do Not Ask Your Children to Strive by William Martin shared by Patti Digh, and reparenting the devil by christopher sexton.

2. Rest in Peace Bill Moyer: Remembering acclaimed public TV journalist Bill Moyers and Passage: Remembering Bill Moyers. (videos)

3. Inside the Scrappy Network of Volunteers Protecting Their Neighbors From ICE. “On the ground with the Fuerza rapid response team in Waltham, Massachusetts.”

4. Walking into the forest from Patti Digh. “There was no single moment that marked this transition for me—no gong, no grand epiphany. Rather, it arrived like the changing of light in late afternoon. A slow golden slanting, subtle but unmistakable. I began to crave quiet. I stopped needing to be seen. I felt the first, delicious pull toward the inward path.”

5. Another Sacred Ordinary List from Erin Geesaman Rabke.

6. The View From the Titanic: America Has Met the Iceberg on The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz. When I think of the Titanic, the tragedy and chaos that happened after it crashed, I can’t help but think of the musicians. “According to survivor accounts, after the Titanic struck the iceberg, the ship’s musicians gathered with their instruments and began to play as passengers were evacuated. They performed a range of music — waltzes, hymns, even ragtime — all in an effort to keep people calm as lifeboats were loaded.” All eight of them died, so this was their final act of humanity.

7. ‘Most Peaceful Country’ Report Lists Ukraine, Russia Last: See Who Is First. I don’t typically consider a change in location the solution to most things, but I’m not gonna lie, I have daydreams about getting the heck out of here.

8. How Much Energy Does Your AI Prompt Use? I Went to a Data Center to Find Out. “From your laptop to a loud GPU cluster, AI prompts are a mysterious energy drain. Our columnist attempted to trace their journey—and their impact.”

9. What Happens in the Body When Your Heart Is Broken — And How to Heal It.

10. Grieve and Love, with Joanna Macy: Hope Portal, Session 5.

11. More people buying electric cars and heat pumps than ever before. We have one electric car and one hybrid, and are considering a heat pump.

12. Processing grief: how photography is helping Gazan refugees rebuild their lives.

13. where there once were roses: On the Killing Fields of Narcissism from Elissa Altman. Also from Elissa, writing the book that gave me back my life: On Giving Myself Permission to Create.

14. How Do We Build and Sustain Momentum? from Jami Attenberg on Craft Talk.

15. 52 Things To Declutter Now from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less. Also from Courtney, The Life-Changing Benefits of Simplicity I Did Not Expect.

16. The poetics of home: Toward an architecture of belonging from Patti Digh.

17. Chin Hair, Laundry, Your Opinion: Women in Menopause Don’t Care on The New York Times. (gift link) “The ‘We Do Not Care’ club, founded by influencer Melani Sanders, celebrates women who have stopped trying to please everyone.”

18. “Double down and be good, despite it all.” (Facebook reel)

19. Three Kids, Three Pasts: Tennessee Hill on Using Multiple POVs to Explore Shared Memory. “The Author of ‘Girls with Long Shadows’ Digs into Divergent Recollections.”

20. If I were as wealthy as Jeff Bezos, “I wouldn’t need a wedding, but a conscience, a compass” from Patti Digh. Yes, this, and Amen.

21. MAL À La TÊTE by Ella Harrigan.

22. Who are you? (yes, you). “Uncovering our true selves” from Meg Josephson.

23. Diary Of A Heatwave, “How I’m surviving the week.” A cartoon from Connie Sun.

24. Anna Guest-Jelley is celebrating 15 years of Curvy Yoga by starting What The Body Knows.

25. How Leaning into Solitude and Softness Isn’t Selfish, It’s Necessary. “Radical Pleasure columnist Athena Dixon on the pleasure of quiet Sundays to reset herself for the week ahead.”

26. Returning to Childhood Hobbies.

27. A Small But Vital Thing, Taken from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

28. Buddhism’s “Five Remembrances” Are Wake-Up Calls for Us All on Lion’s Roar. “Perfectly clear, compassionate, and concise, the ‘Five Remembrances’ are Buddhism at its very best. Koun Franz explains.”

29. Asked to flag ‘negative’ National Park content, visitors gave their own 2 cents instead. Resist.

30. Here are the nonfiction books NPR staffers have loved so far this year. You know how I love a good book list.

31. And finally, this random collection of things I saved on my phone this week.