Happy Friday! I hope you’re doing something today to celebrate the Mother of all Mothers–Earth! I went for a nice walk with my neighbor this morning and admired some big, puffy clouds. I am still riding a high from running the Boston Marathon this past Monday and am confused that it is already Friday. Let’s get into it…
Quote of the week:
“Once we’re thrown off our habitual paths, we think all is lost; but it’s only here that the new and the good begins.” –Leo Tolstoy
What I’m reading:
My daughter was a champ on the plane rides to/from Boston so I was able to read a few books, including a re-read of Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I’m currently reading Henry and June, from the journals of Anaїs Nin, who fell in love with Henry Miller’s writing and his wife June’s beauty over the course of a year in Paris. This one has been on my list for years. Such bold, raw writing for the time period.
What I’m listening to:
I’m still listening to Sally Hepworth’s The Younger Wife. I’m taking a post-marathon break from running so I don’t have as much audio book time as I usually do.
What I’m watching:
I started the new season of The Flight Attendant last night. Not quite into it, but we’ll see.
Writing news:
Just a few weeks until Ways the World Could End is out in the wild! Today’s your last chance to enter the giveaway I’m doing on Instagram—my daughter is picking a winner tonight.
What I’m talking about:
- The Boston Marathon! What an experience. I was smiling the whole time, which is quite something for a 26.2-mile endurance event. The weather was beautiful, the crowds were uplifting, and my legs felt great (and still do!)
- The abrupt end of the mask mandate for planes and public transport. Personally, I’m not that concerned because I am healthy and triple-vaxxed. BUT, I have concerns for the collective. I’m sure people who have underlying conditions felt more protected when the mandate was in place. My daughter and I wore our masks on our plane ride home (the mandate went into effect while we were in Boston). Most people around us did not (and the guy next to me was coughing the whole flight so that was fun)
- Earth Day! I feel like the tide is finally turning in favor of more sustainability initiatives, which makes me cautiously optimistic
- Misinformation as a threat to democracy (just listened to Obama’s keynote address at Stanford yesterday)
Interesting things I learned this week:
- Chimpanzees don’t have foot arches, causing their midfoot to be very flexible. One in 13 humans have a similar foot structure
- 1 in every 1000 sea turtle hatchlings survive to maturity
- 60-70% of women have longer feet after pregnancy (I have always had big feet so thankfully this did not happen to me)
- Fig trees can send their roots more than 200 feet deep in search of water they need to survive in the desert
- Elephant trunks have more than 30,000 muscles, allowing them to rip down trees weighing hundreds of pounds
- Going one year without beef saves about 3400 trees
- The enneagram has been around for 2000-4000 years (I did a pretty comprehensive test a while back and was a tie between a 3 and 4)
- 37% of Americans say they use weed
- Black people are 264% more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession (though white people use cannabis just as much)
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
“Therese name origin.” I do a lot of research when naming characters in my novels!
What I’m grateful for:
- Finishing the Boston Marathon and feeling so great after (some snapshots from the trip below)
- The support of my mom, sister, and daughter in Boston
- Freed up mental energy (I realize now that the race was occupying a lot of brain space)
- Some fun upcoming plans—I’ll be on a plane three times in the next couple months!
A few snapshots from this week:
