1. The Central Oregon Coast. It really is one of my favorite places on the planet, even though I don’t think it’s somewhere I’d ever be able to live all four seasons. I’ve come to realize over the years that the longer I go without seeing the ocean, this particular stretch of coastline, the more brittle I become. I NEED that force, that connection, that return in order to keep going without breaking. The food, the landscape, the light, the sound, the smell, the wildlife, the water and the woods — all of it is essential for me.

Ringo didn’t feel great on this trip. So, there was a lot of napping and resting that he needed, just like we did. He also spent a lot of time looking out at the water just like us. That said, he’s actually a pretty great dog to travel with.

2. Veterinary care. As I mentioned, Ringo didn’t feel good on this trip. In fact, just a few days before we left, we had to drive 1.5 hours to the nearest emergency hospital because he had another bought of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, and we knew we couldn’t wait to treat it, didn’t want him to crash during the three days we were driving towards home.

Once back home, I took him to see his regular vet, who is SO good and loves him SO much, (she has cattle dogs of her own). She helped us to rule out a few more things (bloodwork shows a Vitamin D deficiency) and gave us a recommendation for another vet to consult.

Dr. Foster specializes in acupuncture and nutritional support, a mix of Eastern and Western wisdom approaches. With her help, we are healing Ringo’s wonky belly and treating his arthritis and anxiety. I feel hopeful about his health for the first time in a long time and I’m so grateful, to her and Ringo’s whole team, which also includes Red Sage Vets.

3. Reading. I brought a big box of books over from my mom’s house, as she no longer reads and wanted to clear out her bookshelves. Since I was off social media, I read A LOT, and was able to leave some books behind. I’m starting to think I’m either really lucky when choosing or am easily pleased, because it seems like 95% of the books I read are SO good!

4. Good food. We discovered a new favorite in Waldport, the Fishmongers Food Truck, and we also ate at some old favorites, like Mo’s and LeRoy’s Blue Whale (the BEST pancakes) and of course Depoe Baykery. I also realized while I was there that when I am stressed out and don’t know what else to do, I cook and feed people. I made three cakes, three batches of cookies, two baked zitis, chicken noodle soup and biscuits.

5. Home. Both of them, Colorado and Oregon. This time visiting Oregon came with its own struggles, its own tenderness. A big thing is it seems pretty clear my mom has developed vascular dementia due to her stroke, and will eventually, maybe sooner rather than later, need more care than we can provide her at home. I haven’t really been able to process my dad’s final days and the fact that he’s gone because the focus had to shift directly to helping Mom and now to accepting that she’s not going to get better, and it is a lot. Sometimes it feels like too much.

6. My tiny family, small house, little life. I was so happy to have some peonies left when we got back, to walk the routes we’ve done hundreds of times, to sleep in my own bed, to be in Carrie and Chloe’s orbit again. All of it is precious to me. I know I’ve shared this quote from Jeff Foster many times, but it is so true. 

You will lose everything. Your money, your power, your fame, your success, perhaps even your memories. Your looks will go. Loved ones will die. Your body will fall apart. Everything that seems permanent is impermanent and will be smashed. Experience will gradually, or not so gradually, strip away everything that it can strip away. Waking up means facing this reality with open eyes and no longer turning away.

But right now, we stand on sacred and holy ground, for that which will be lost has not yet been lost, and realising this is the key to unspeakable joy. Whoever or whatever is in your life right now has not yet been taken away from you. This may sound trivial, obvious, like nothing, but really it is the key to everything, the why and how and wherefore of existence. Impermanence has already rendered everything and everyone around you so deeply holy and significant and worthy of your heartbreaking gratitude.

Loss has already transfigured your life into an altar.

1. Faith Ringgold, quilt and visual artist, dies at 93. “Ringgold also created paintings, sculptures, performance art and children’s books. Her work focused on Black life, feminine life and the crossroads between the two.”

2. James Patterson will be donating more than $300,000 to the American Bookseller Association and American Library Association members.

3. The Beautiful World of ZOOM, the Short-Lived PBS Show That Once Had More Viewers Than Sesame Street.

4. Couple goes viral by sharing heartwarming pregnancy updates with neighbor.

5. Netflix Sets Frank Marshall-Directed Documentary ‘Rather,’ About the Career of TV News Icon Dan Rather, for April 24th Premier.

6. Regrets of the Dying.

7. How Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” Ruined His Career.

8. Steve Almond Tells Us About How Mercy Pushes Us Deeper Into Truth on Cheryl Strayed’s Dear Sugar, “the occasional series I do, in which I invite an author to tell us five things—not only about their most recent book, but about their life too.”

9. Recipes I want to try: Thai Peanut Chicken Noodles, Thai Chicken Meatballs in Peanut Sauce, and Easy Mile High Biscuits.

10. David Sedaris launches new tour, new kids’ book and lots of new gripes.

11. Tide In, Tide Out: Anne Lamott on Growing Old and Making Peace with Death.

12. Love is a father and daughter dance. (Facebook reel)

13. Timelapse powered by people. (Facebook reel) This is such a cool idea. And here’s another one. (Facebook reel)

14. Wow.

15. “Everything Is an Invitation” with David Whyte on the Sounds True One podcast. “In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with David about his writing career, his creative approach to leadership, and the conversation with life to which we are all constantly invited. Tami and David discuss the willingness to have courageous conversations; the generativity of ‘a well-felt sadness’; reframing regret; the seven steps of invitational leadership; “robust vulnerability” and choosing the path we really care about; anguish, anxiety, and being OK with the unknown; letting go; ‘apprenticing ourselves to our own disappearance’; and more.”

16. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: Uncommonly Lovely Invented Words for What We Feel but Cannot Name.

17. Home: An Illustrated Celebration of the Genius and Wonder of Animal Dwellings.

18. What Breaks & Remakes Us: Salman Rushdie on calamity and consequence on The Isolation Journals with Suleika Jaouad.

19. Retired science teacher Patrick Moriarty reunited with more than 100 students from his decades of teaching for an eclipse watch party on April 8, 2024. In related news, Vintage Eclipse Viewing Glasses and The solar eclipse is over—here are 3 things to do with your used glasses.

20. A German art gallery employee snuck in his own art in hopes of a breakthrough. Now the police are involved. This reminds me of this story, which had a very different outcome: An 8-year-old boy snuck a book he wrote onto a library shelf. More than 100 people are waiting to check it out.

21. Which States Have the Highest Minimum Wage in America?

22. Palestinians and the world must not lose hope.

23. Who decides what violence is? “We’re told from birth that violence is only present in the last act, in the final domino that falls. When we learn about crime we’re told to focus on the robbery, but never on why someone might turn to theft. It’s always the actions of an individual that we’re told to judge, and never their circumstances, or the system they live under, or the policies that have shaped their life. And we need to break that cycle, that approach, urgently. Because the truth is that the biggest offenders are wearing suits; they’re often in boardrooms or state houses. The companies that pushed Oxycodone on America have hurt more people and made more money than any drug dealer. Police forces have killed more people in the United States than any gang. Policies around evictions and climate and health care have hurt infinitely more people than any criminal mastermind could ever conceive of.” Which reminds me of this quote from Desmond Tutu:

24. Life lessons: Isabella Tree on what life so far has taught her. “Writer and farmer Isabella Tree helped kickstart the rewilding revolution in Britain. She talks about man’s hubris, her most revitalising habit and what makes her feel optimistic.”

25. The Only Way Forward from Frederick Joseph. “Reflecting on our efforts to support migrant mothers and families.”

26. Giving Yourself Permission to Create from Nikita Gill. “How to give yourself to the blank page.” More creative wisdom from Nikita:

27. Maria Bamford and Her Intrusive Thoughts Are Making a Web Series.

28. The Dumbphone Boom Is Real on The New Yorker. “The growing dumbphone fervor may be motivated, in part, by the discourse around child safety online. Parents are increasingly confronted with evidence that sites like Instagram and TikTok intentionally try to hook their children. Using those sites can increase teens’ anxiety and lower their self-esteem, according to some studies, and smartphones make it so that kids are logged on constantly. Why should this situation be any healthier for adults? After almost two decades with iPhones, the public seems to be experiencing a collective ennui with digital life. So many hours of each day are lived through our portable, glowing screens, but the Internet isn’t even fun anymore. We lack the self-control to wean ourselves off, so we crave devices that actively prevent us from getting sucked into them. That means opting out of the prevailing technology and into what Cal Newport, a contributing writer for The New Yorker, has called a more considered ‘digital minimalism.'”

29. How to Stop Spiraling If Health Anxiety Is Taking Over Your Brain.

30. 22 Small Things That People Say Made Them Drastically Happier.

31. 4 Types of Burnout. “Are you frenetic, under-challenged, worn out or misaligned?” With my last job, it was a combination of all four.

32. Why I Swear by ‘My Year of No.’

33. Is that ad following you around the internet creepy or kind of cool?

34. No Time For Friends? Try the ‘Friendship Snack.’

35. A Room Alive! Making Comics Together, “a short documentary exploring and showcasing UW-Madison’s Comics Room and the community it has inspired–featuring interviews with Lynda Barry, Jeff Butler, and Julia Tanenbaum.”

36. Things Engineers Spotted During Structural Inspections. Yikes!

37. Working With Your Hands Is Good for Your Brain on The New York Times. (gift link) “Activities like writing, gardening and knitting can improve your cognition and mood. Tapping, typing and scrolling? Less so.”

38. Japan Gives Washington 250 Cherry Trees as Replacements on The New York Times. (gift link) “The trees will replace 140 that will be torn up as part of a restoration project. The capital’s first Japanese cherry trees were a gift from the mayor of Tokyo in 1912.” In related news, Stumpy, the Washington, D.C. Tidal Basin’s “celebri-tree.”

39. What I Do When I Face Boredom. “In times when I find myself confronted with feelings of boredom, I make a conscious choice to let it happen. Instead of seeking immediate distractions, I allow my mind to experience this emotion.”

40. Remarkable Tessellated Forms Emerge in Intricate Origami by Goran Konjevod.

41. Why Highly Sensitive People Get Overwhelmed Easily (And How to Fix It).