Season 34
A pink water lily blooming at our old house
*If you see an asterisk next to a link, that link takes you to a video with sound. Just a heads-up in case you need to turn the volume down or pop on your headphones.
HOME
After the whirlwind of a move, we’re finally settling into our new home. The natural surroundings in our new neighborhood have been a welcome respite after a flurry of weeks spent packing and unpacking boxes. We’ve literally put our hands on every item we accumulated over the last 11 years. It’s humbling and bittersweet. There were so many memories in our sweet little bungalow.
Moving to a new home and a new neighborhood reminded me of a book I loved when I was a child. Scarlet Monster Lives Here tells the story of Scarlet as she moves into her new home and gets ready for company.
She anticipates invitations from neighbors to enjoy all kinds of activities in her new neighborhood. Worried that no one will know she is there, she puts out a sign, bakes brownies and makes pickled beets to share, and waits. To her disappointment, no one stops by to enjoy the treats and her company.
Scarlet wonders if adding her name to the mailbox might help them find her or if keeping her door open as a sign of welcome will entice them to visit. While she waits, she starts to question whether her new neighbors will even like her or if they will have anything in common. Just as she begins to worry that there might be something wrong with her and that is why they haven’t visited, neighbors begin cautiously appearing near her home and offering small gestures of welcome. They admit that they too were worried that she might not like them.
As we begin school, change homes (as my family did), or venture into new places and experiences, we can think of Scarlet Monster and remember that everyone yearns for a sense of belonging. Be the one to offer the first welcome.
I enjoyed this video* by Her86m2 as it echoed my own experience in moving. It takes time to make a house feel like home.
For those of you with kids at home or anyone trying to make it out the door in the morning, I encourage you to give these podcast episodes from The Lazy Genius a listen. You’re not alone.
The Lazy Genius Gets Out The Door
When Things Don’t Go According to Plan
GARDEN
We are renting our current home which means I can’t go crazy in the garden. That doesn’t mean I haven’t put my hands in the dirt, however. With butterflies migrating through this area in the months to come, I’m welcoming butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds with garden beds full of gaura, mist flower, sage, roses, daisies, coreopsis, and swamp milkweed.
I have plans to get involved in our neighborhood’s community garden. I look forward to sharing photographs and stories of the visitors to our backyard garden, native plants, container garden as well as what I find when I explore the community garden.
WELLNESS
Grief weaves its way into our daily routines and everyday moments reminding us of the loss of a loved one, a beloved pet, a change in our way of life or how the seasons of life have transformed the people around us and our own lives along the way. Possibly more than any other year in our world's recent history are we are feeling loss so deeply as a global community.
Finding comfort and connection in the stories of others experiencing loss has always been a balm to my soul. This week Bookshop.org featured my Grief is a Journey ($) booklist on their Instagram stories.
My hope is that the list I have created from personal favorites and recommended books to read while on the path of grief will bring comfort to my fellow readers. Bring these books, their characters and personal stories close to your heart when the ache of grief calls for an understanding companion.
CREATIVITY
I’ve had limited time to be creative (except for the creativity of organizing and decorating our home in a flash before school began!), so I’m sharing my favorite finds from the incredibly talented Etsy community in my Etsy favorites list. Be sure to check out my gift list if you are looking for ideas for upcoming birthdays and holidays.
Sommer’s Favorites on Etsy ($)
BOOKSHELF
Keeping me on the edge of my seat this month was the creepy (and riveting!) gothic mystery The Whispering House ($) by Elizabeth Brooks. I read the August book pick along with the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book club.
To prepare for the dark and moody atmosphere of Byrne Hall in The Whispering House, I watched Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey ($). Gothic mystery ended up being just the genre I needed to break up the chaotic nature of moving and push through the hot summer days in August.
Content warning for this book: physical and verbal abuse
I could really relate to this week’s What Should I Read Next Episode: Backlist and Brunch with Anne Bogel and Amber Burns. Now I want to visit Philadelphia and read a book at the coffee shops she mentioned.
Reading: Finding My Voice ($) by Nadiya Hussain, Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything ($) by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, and Address Unknown ($) by Katherine Kressman Taylor and Margot Livesey
Listening to: The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together ($) by Heather McGhee and The Jane Austen Society ($) by Natalie Jenner
Recently Finished: Whispering House ($) by Elizabeth Brooks, Sparks Like Stars ($) by Nadia Hashimi, and Graceling ($) by Kristin Cashore
Up next: The Personal Librarian ($) by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, Dear Miss Metropolitan ($) by Carolyn Ferrell, Queen Sugar ($) by Natalie Baszile, Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage ($) by Dianne D. Glave
In case you are looking for book recommendations for kids (or yourself!), gift ideas for all ages or want to peek into my TBR List for 2021, head over to the 52 Seasons Book Shop on Bookshop.org.
COMMUNITY
Recently I read about The Best Friends Group, a group of high school girls forging their own paths in Afghanistan. The situation in Afghanistan has changed drastically in recent weeks. Here are a few places where you can support women, children and families fleeing the violence.
Casa Marianella here in Austin, Texas, is taking in Afghan refugees
World Central Kitchen is feeding Afghan refugees as they arrive at the Washington DC airport
Together Rising is helping bring women, children and families to safety as well as those experiencing forced internal displacement
If you’d like to read more about Afghanistan through fiction that seems eerily similar to what is happening in Afghanistan right now, I recommend Nadia Hashimi’s Sparks Like Stars as well as all of her books about strong Afghan women.
Essay: Author Nadia Hashimi On The Taliban Takeover of Kabul on NPR
"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." - Desmond Tutu
Thank you for taking time out of your day to read 52 Seasons. I’d love to hear your feedback and ideas so that we can grow together.
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Disclosure: ($) If you see this dollar symbol in a post, the link is an affiliate post. I will receive income or a discount on products if you purchase that item on Bookshop.org or anything on the Etsy, Campspot, Beauty by Earth, or Prana website using my link. Income from the products in these links helps me to keep this blog growing.