Peaches, Pedro Pascal, Public Libraries, and Public Lands
and Purring Chickens
On Saturday, I had a volunteer shift at the Molly Brown House. It was a 100°F day and, although the house was high-tech for the 1890s, air conditioning had not yet been invented. Over the course of the morning, I felt like I was in an oven while it preheated. It made me crave peach pie and chardonnay.
When I got home, I tried to explain to Julio how the vibes were a little off. People were lovely, but also seemed frayed. I tried to write, but I was out of ideas. Instead, I sat in the yard and did an inventory of beautiful little observations while my child played. I find this practice helpful both as a generative writing exercise and as an antidote to information overload. When things feel too big, look at smaller and smaller things. Some items on my list:
Nell always comes up to bop me with her nose when I go out to the pasture.
Angelica the chicken was contentedly purring under the deck, in a little crater of her own making.
The pumpkin vines are starting to expand, and some seedlings are just emerging, with the seed still dangling to the side. That is one of my favorite things.
As Nell becomes more independent from her mother, she and Luna seem to be developing a friendship.
When Moira farts, her fluffy bustle of an alpaca tail flies up.
My friend Rachele described watching the bees coming and going as seeing the hive “breathing.”
There is an insect in the garden that I have never seen before. They look like tiny, translucent green mayflies, almost too small to see at first. They are not aphids. But I am curious.
For some reason that probably has to do with alliteration, as I tallied delights, a post I saw about a month ago from Hayley DeRoche on Instagram, kept coming to mind, too:
I decided to make this sentiment the theme for my week, adding in Public Lands. More on that at the end, with a call to action, too.
Peaches
When I was a kid, we would drive from Indiana to Florida for vacation, and a big event along the way was a roadside farmer’s market and restaurant called Peach Park in Clanton, Alabama. We would stop to stretch our legs, walking around the garden while Mom bought tomatoes and peaches. I always associated peaches with the South and was surprised when I moved to Colorado and learned that this state has a peach industry as well.
This week, I used discards from Sloan the Sourdough Starter to make a peach galette, following this recipe—Sourdough Discard Pastry Dough via The Clever Carrot—for the crust (I substituted Greek yogurt for the crème fraîche). For the filling, I mixed strawberries, peaches, and some ginger puree. It wasn’t the prettiest dessert, but the crust was the perfect balance of salty and sweet.
Pedro Pascal
On Sunday, I saw Materialists at the theater. I was delighted to open my Regal app and find that I had enough loyalty points for free popcorn, but then I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and fell, earning a giant goose egg on one knee and bruising the heel of my hand like a ripe peach.
From writer/director Celine Song, Materialists focuses on Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a matchmaker, who meets rich-and-handsome Harry (Pascal), at the wedding of one of her clients, where she also bumps into her ex-boyfriend, John (Chris Evans), who is waiting tables. Pedro Pascal, with his tonic masculinity, is perfectly cast as a “unicorn” of a bachelor, too good to be true, but still single and vulnerable about that.1 What follows was sort of advertised as a classic rom-com love triangle, and I would guess that accounts for the delta between critic and audience scores of the film. Really, through Lucy’s frank discussions with her clients and her own love interests about what makes a suitable match, Song reflects on love and marriage in a fashion that I think Jane Austen would really vibe with.
One of the first things I noticed about the film was how quiet it is. The sound design creates something like a noise-canceling bubble around Lucy’s conversations. Despite taking place in New York, the soundscape is toned down to match Dakota Johnson’s soft voice. Some scenes have music, but many have so little ambient noise that you can hear birds chirping or bees buzzing. Harry’s penthouse is silent, so when the scene cuts to John’s loud, terrible apartment, the contrast jolts.
I interpret the quietness of the film as a way to get the audience to lean in a bit. The love triangle is such a stock trope, but through it, Materialists addresses the superficiality of romance and dating head-on, not outright dismissing concerns about income and looks, but also, if a little jadedly, leaving room for love. Like a Jane Austen heroine, Lucy pays careful attention to the “tangible assets” that make a good match. But she also wants love, even if it is hard for her to admit. She tries to convince Harry that he is out of her league, and he tells her that he is interested in her “intangible” qualities. Despite viewing marriage as a business deal, Lucy is interested in those intangibles too. She tells her clients that she believes that they will marry the love of their lives. At first, it is hard to believe her, but through Lucy’s sensitivity to the unpredictable human elements of dating—both the risks and the beautiful surprises—Song deftly depicts both the material and the inexplicable factors in choosing a mate, to find someone who makes us feel secure and valuable.
Lucy makes an argument that someone shouldn’t want to be with her twice in the movie. I laughed a bit because I also tried to convince Julio that he did not want to date me. Then, after we started dating, he tried to convince me that I shouldn’t want to date him. We were, for our own reasons, concerned about the assets and intangibles that we brought to the relationship. But I always knew it would be a good investment.
Public Libraries
Summer reading is on! I was hoping to tell you about the art classes I took at the library, but one was canceled because the teacher got sick and the other filled up so fast I…well, I couldn’t really be upset, because it’s good that people are going to the library. So, I’m waitlisted.
But my daughter and I made art with melted crayons and decorated little flowerpots. We also went to a program about camouflage by Nature’s Educators and saw a prairie falcon and a kestrel.
While making the peach galette, I listened to an interview Heather Cox Richardson did with President Obama. At one point, he talked about how many of our problems are hard to fix because they are not just technical problems; they also require cooperation. Obama asserted that social cohesion is one of the challenges of our time, fundamental to fixing all the other big problems. He described people using Meetup to organize during his first campaign and how getting together face-to-face helps build common ground. As he put it, even the people I agree with, I don’t agree with on everything. His description reminded me of the environmental groups I volunteer with—the mixture of people who come, the different lived experiences they bring with them, and a common cause that unites across diversity of thought. As the internet puts us in silos and flattens our intangible qualities, being with other people is vital.
The interview also got me thinking about the library—that magical place where we can learn, try things, socialize, and coexist. The morning we made our flowerpots, my daughter plunked down in a seat and started gluing tissue paper to her pot while I was still choosing colors and planning. I saw that she was crinkling the paper, and I started to show her the instructions. Then I realized that she was copying the work of another adult on the other side of her, and I didn’t want her to think I thought she was doing it wrong. Awkward. Both of their pots came out beautifully, though, much better than mine. My girl darted away to an impromptu dance party before I could finish, and I had a brief conversation with the woman who was still working on her tissue flowers. Although I am deeply introverted and prefer to go to the library for the books, my extroverted child needs to be around other kids and families. It does me good, too. Making flowerpots is not going to solve any major problems, but I always feel a little lighter when I spend time engaged with creativity and community, and it fills me up to see my child being taught by other caring adults.
What are you reading this summer?
We finished The Wild Robot and loved it. While we wait for the sequel to be available, we are reading lots of Frog and Toad. Reading is starting to click for my daughter, and it feels like we are on an exciting threshold.
I am working my way through a big stack of books on empathy that I checked out from the library, as well as the latest from Rebecca Solnit—No Straight Road Takes You There— and Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet by Kate Marvel. I just got an ARC of Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress by Lorissa Rinehart, which I am excited about. And, I will be trying to work through my backlog of fiction, too.
Public Lands
Finally, you may have heard that one (of many) shocking elements of the budget reconciliation bill moving through Congress is a massive and mandatory selloff of public lands. The bill mandates the selling of 2 million acres but allows for up to 3 million. The land eligible for sale includes popular recreation spots and important wildlife habitats (Denver Post). Huge swaths of national forests. Many of Colorado’s 14ers. Some of the most scenic areas in our beautiful country. Why would anyone do this!? These lands belong to all Americans, and we do not stand to gain anything by selling them off. It would be a tragic loss. These lands are not only naturally beautiful and environmentally significant; they also help sustain local economies and are an iconic part of our American heritage. This land is my land. This land is your land. This bill is an outrage.
Here in Colorado, our senators have stated their opposition to the Public Lands sell-off. It wouldn’t hurt to keep letting them know that we think it’s a bad idea, but I have an ask: If you live elsewhere, could you please call your elected officials too? If you don’t have them on speed dial, you can find their info here.
Be polite and firm. Say your name and that you’re a constituent. I usually throw in my zip code for good measure, and a thank you if they have done something recently that I liked. Tell them what’s on your mind. You can give them the whole list. You’ll probably get voicemail. Leave one! Remind them when they are up for re-election if you feel that’s relevant.
Do it for generations to come. And for this goat:
UPDATE: Late yesterday while I was writing this post, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that the public lands sale fell outside the bounds of a budget reconciliation bill. Hurray. She also ruled that some "pay to pollute" provisions were a no-go. This is good news, but I still think this issue is one to keep an eye one, because there is no reason to believe that Seantor Mike Lee (R-Utah) won't try to find a work around. So, let's please keep the pressure on.
Related:
How to Climb a Fourteener When You’re Afraid of Heights (HerStry)
I wrote this last night and woke up to see the new Vanity Fair interview with Pascal that unpacks his version of masculinity in this moment, his slow trajectory to stardom, and the “angels” who helped him along the way. I found this line especially beautiful: “Pascal has a tattoo of his mother’s signature on the inside of his right wrist. I have a tattoo in honor of my mother on the inside of my left. As a goodbye outside of Downey’s house, we touch our griefs against each other for a moment. Which is maybe what the movies, or literature, or theater allows us to do.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAThrVt1VRs&list=RDdAThrVt1VRs&start_radio=1 theme song this substack