Last day of April, my birth month. Encouraged by the early warmth, we’ve prepared the porch and the yard for summer, but these last days have been too cold to enjoy the outside. The lettuce seeds have sprouted, the milkweed leaves are unfurling, and our meals have begun to include frequent ingredients harvested from the garden (chives and garlic chives, thyme and lemon thyme, sage and fiddleheads). For a few months at least, winter is not coming.
Next week we’re heading off on a road trip, the first time in years we will have driven farther than Chicago. I’m looking forward to the Low Country. Savannah and maybe Charleston. We’ll be spending several days on Hilton Head Island, where I’ve never been before. Golf of course (not for me but still…) and, weather permitting, beaches. I hope to learn a bit about Gullah culture and maybe even bring home a basket or two.
In the meantime, I’ve continued to read books that do not encourage a lightness of heart. I had put off reading The Underground Railroad, but after the Pulitzer it became unavoidable. In the last few months I’ve also read The Invention of Wings and Homegoing. So my experience in South Carolina and Georgia will include not just an appreciation of the beauty of nature and the delicious food, but an awareness of the history of slavery and its continuing legacy. I’m hoping to find more upbeat books (including audible) for the trip, since my mood seems to so clearly mirror my reading material.
What influences your mood? My list would include the weather, other aspects of my environment (yes, I really do feel better when my space is clean and tidy), my activities (cooking and gardening are good), and, absolutely, what I am watching, listening to, and reading. It’s tricky to balance awareness of the awful things that are happening, appreciation of the wonderful things all around me, and the need/opportunity to be alive every day.
I’m looking forward to May.