Out of the Office

and some Sunday Suggestions

The picture above is my view for the week. Well, actually, this might be a better representation:

(Crocs are the very best shoes for a week at the cabin, trust me on this)

I plan to spend my next few days in a cycle of swimming in the lake, reading by the lake, playing games with my kids and my friend S. and her kids, having snacks, and reapplying both sunscreen and bug spray.

Realistically, I will also be reminding the children 27 times a day that towels won’t dry if they are left in a sodden clump on the concrete porch, pestering my daughter to put on sunscreen because she has recently begun insisting that Black people don’t get sunburned*, trying to make sure the kids get in a responsibility vegetable in between the packs of Gushers and these seriously addictive everything bagel chips from Costco, wondering if I need a shower or if a dip in the lake counts, and shushing everyone when the Dutch Blitz related screaming starts getting a little too loud.

*This is both untrue and evidence of the fact that my years of trying to be ON IT with sunscreen for her has given her a real false sense of confidence for a mixed kid who got at least some of her DNA from a mother whose only two skin color options are pale winter white and “oh shit, I’m a lobster” red in the summer. She thinks the fact that she hasn’t ever really had a sunburn is evidence of the fact that she can’t get a sunburn and honestly I’m feeling like a real victim of my own success here.*

What I’m gonna try real hard NOT to do this week is watch the news.

Y’all I promise I care about the state of the world and that I recognize that I have about five kinds of privilege in deciding to opt out from the horrors for the week, but we are only six months into this administration and I am so, so tired of being angry and outraged. I need a little nervous system reset and some slower days. I need cold lake swims and the sounds of loons and at least one afternoon of sitting on the covered porch and watching rain clouds roll in over the water.

I hope you can have something in your week that will give you the same ability to drop your shoulders and take a deep breath too. Hang in there, friends.

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Some things I was into this week include:

• I’m back on my Wordle bullshit and want to make sure my fellow word game loving people know that Octordle is a thing and is very fun if you like a little more challenge. FWIW, my morning game routine when I have time is always the following four games, that must be done in this order: Wordle, Connections (the one that is most likely to piss me off on any given day), Quordle, and then Octordle. A solid 10-15 minutes of brain soothing activity to start the day.

• Sadly, they are sold out in my size, but if you are a small footed person looking for a new pair of Rothy’s in a VERY FUN color for a very good price (compared to usual Rothy’s prices), you could be in luck this weekend.

• I don’t really believe in ghosts but I fully believe this house is haunted. A converted jail? No thank you.

• Kids are the best

• YIKES ON BIKES (Another in the “Wendy hates AI series)

• “The Curse of Kenya’s Long-Distance Runners” is a (depressing) look at some of the challenges of being some of the best athletes in the world

• Looking forward to trying these in our s’mores this week (Look, I know many people who don’t think Hershey’s is great chocolate, but I’m basic when it comes to my s’mores. I’m not using my beloved Tony’s Chocolonley for s’mores)

  

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One final suggestion that isn’t quite like the things I usually share, but so many things feel rather grim and scary lately, so maybe you also need 5 minutes of calm in the form of a song that is a prayer for peace, accompanied by the work of a beautiful dancer?