Seasons 1-3 (2022)
“Don’t think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It’s quiet, but the roots are down there riotous.” - Rumi
HOME + TRAVEL
I hope everyone had a restful and joyous holiday season. For many, the holidays proved to be a time of quieter and smaller celebrations than everyone had anticipated. Changing and adapting has been a constant thread through the last few years.
January is always a month where I feel more quiet than usual. It takes me a few weeks to get back into a pre-holiday rhythm. I found myself taking even longer than usual this January to get back into what feels like a somewhat regular schedule.
Over the break we played in the delicate snowfall that graced our Colorado vacation home during the week between Christmas and the beginning of a new year. We came home to what is always a first spring here in Central Texas. We usually have some gorgeous 70-degree days mixed in with a few morning freezes in January. It calls us to get out and play even when our bodies are feeling the slowness of shorter days and a winter that waits for a fashionably late entrance in late January and February. The juniper pollen that causes cedar fever for many of us keeps us indoors more than we’d like (or in a mask in my case so that I can still enjoy the weather).
This year I’m dreaming of travel to new places, so I’m making space in my reading life for travel books. We haven’t traveled anywhere other than driving to Colorado for over two years. We’re looking forward to traveling (with fingers crossed) in the coming year, and I’m adding books about Hawaii and Portugal to my bookshelf in hopes that we’ll be able to visit both destinations this year.
While researching travel books, I came across an extremely helpful website for curating travel books and books in translation called Tale Away. The anticipation of a trip can be as joyful as the trip itself. Reading about the culture, food, history, and unique tapestry of a place is like an amuse-bouche for adventure.
Putting the focus on travel has helped us prioritize in our YNAB budget* for 2022 to put travel in the forefront. Budgeting Lets Me Buy What I Want - a new video from my favorite budget expert Hannah (*heads up - link has sound)
In between our planned trips across two oceans (if we’re lucky) this summer, we’ve focused our sights on some travel in the US. Our Airstream is currently being remodeled, and we’re hoping it will be ready in time to travel to Colorado and Oregon by the start of summer. While we are still very much in the boring stages of replacing areas of the frame that have rust, remodeling walls, and checking for any major structural issues before finish-out, we hope to move on to the interior design and finish-out in the coming weeks. If all goes well, we’ll be booking our adventures using Campspot.*
Ready for your own adventure? Discover and book the best campgrounds, RV parks, cabins, glamping, and more!
GARDEN
It’s tulip planting time! This past week, I slid my tulip bulb tray from the fridge shelf after weeks of pre-chilling the bulbs. Before planting, I removed about 6 inches of soil in the container I’m using for planting. I placed the tulips root down in a tight grouping. Tulips work well when planted closely together to help support the stems and will create a vibrant effect when the bulbs burst into color.
Bulbs should be gently watered as they do not do well with too much water and will rot if water collects around the roots. Luckily the old container I found at an antique store has a slow leak and should keep moisture in the container without retaining too much water. I added a few rocks at the base of the container before adding soil as well.
The tulip varieties I’m using this year can be purchased in my Etsy shop*
WELLNESS
Awe might be our most undervalued emotion.
Finding joy in times of change.
CREATIVITY
I’ve turned my 2021 calendar into bookmarks (here’s a link to last year’s bookmarks). When we have a few cold and rainy days coming up, my plan is to create a wall calendar for 2022 with collages based on photographs of places where I’d like to travel.
The creative principles I live by.
BOOKSHELF
I’m putting the finishing touches on my bookshelf line-up for 2022. You can find my digital 2022 bookshelf, called Reading Adventures for 2022 (with a few extra books added for good measure) in my 52 Seasons Blog online bookshop.*
What’s on my bookshelf for January?
Austin Public Library Young Adult (YA) Book Club
Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club backlist selection
Low-key book before bedtime
Picture book
COMMUNITY
“No book is right for everyone, but one book can make a big difference in one person’s life,” she said. “That’s what libraries are about — providing those windows and doors and mirrors to the community.” - Wendy Woodland from the Texas Library Association on Texans now challenging books in local public libraries.
Texas Library Association Advocacy
TLA talk on Legal & Policy Issues on Materials Challenges on January 25. Register here.
The Fine-Free Library Trend is Growing for Good Reason
Have a wonderful weekend. See you next week!
(I’m in the middle of doing a website re-fresh, so you’ll notice a slightly different look to the blog and website in February.)