Things I’ve enjoyed recently

A warm hello from my home in the frigid Minnesota winter ❄️

Hello! How have all of you been? As one of my friends said at a recent pizza night we had, when you think of the state of the world, all you can really say is: “Well, baseline bad, but, you know, I’m doing fine.”

Part of what is keeping me fine is keeping a handle on what media I choose with which to engage. Books keep me grounded, as do light-hearted and engaging shows. Getting outside and taking deep breaths is good, too. There’s something about the bracing winter air here in Minnesota that always brings me back into my body.

One thing that is giving me a strong sense of purpose is creating a warm and supportive community of mother writers in my Loft class. Art is always necessary. Art can be a comfort; it can be a revolution. Working to help others find and use their voices is important work to me. (The 6-week online course starting in March is open for registration. You can enroll here.)

There is always more to do, and it is also important to find and hang on to joy. That is resistance, too. Here are some shows, books, and items I’ve enjoyed lately! Perhaps you’ll find something to check out for yourself.

Photo by Donnie Rosie on Unsplash

1. Blue’s Clues

   My son asked to watch “balloo puppy,” and instead of Bluey, he meant Blue’s Clues! I had forgotten what a wonderful show this is. It’s gentle, slow-paced, full of invitations to participate and genuine affirmations from that sweet lil guy in the rugby shirt, Steve.

   

2. Love Next Door (Netflix)

   This cozy Korean drama follows a woman as she returns home to Korea after leaving a successful life in America. She reunites with her childhood friend and lots of hand-wringing, will they/won’t they, long drawn out drama ensues.

   

3. Hot Springs Drive by Lindsay Hunter.

   This book gripped me from start to finish, but be aware: it is very violent, had lots of explicit sexual content, and centers around voyeurism and cheating. Yikes! The writing was quite good and it made me excited to read more by Hunter. I also read a great short story by her titled “Mother of the Year” in The Kenyon Review.

   

4. The End of Drum-Time by Hanna Pylväinen

   This book tells the story of Willa, the daughter of Mad Lasse (a preacher based on Lars Levi Laestadius) who falls in love with a Sámi man. Set in 1850s Scandinavia, the book deals with themes of race, religion, colonialism, and identity. My favorite parts focused on the relationships the Sámi have with reindeer. This book was perfect to read in wintertime and I loved learning about the native people of Scandinavia and the ways

   humans work with winter instead of against it.

   

5. In Memoriam by Alice Winn

   My friend Alison suggested this book to me because she understands my fascination with WWI and the way I fell in love with the (platonic?) love that bloomed between soldier-poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon while writing my first book The War Requiem. This book follows two young boarding school boys, their friends, and their foes as they fight on the front lines in Belgium and France. It was beautifully written, deftly textured with letters and newspaper excerpts, and gave readers—well, this reader at least—a delicious taste of the sensual love that is often hinted at between soldiers in WWI but rarely explicitly named. The ending left a bit to be desired by me (my friend agreed), but I still wholeheartedly recommend this book if you are interested in poetry, the Great War, and romance, or, I suppose, if you read and enjoyed my book!

   

6. My tried and true winter moisturizers.

   We’ve gotten some negative-degree days here in Minnesota lately, so it’s safe to say that it’s Cerave season. This lotion feels so good on my face and my chapped hands. If you need lip protection, I suggest Aquaphor (also great protection against diaper rash!) or Burt’s Bees lip balm in the original peppermint and beeswax. During the winter time, I usually shift to using a basic drugstore Cetaphil body cleanser for my face. I’ve found that many face cleansers dry my skin out too much in the winter. For my wind-chilled Minnesota skin, basic is best.

   

I hope you are all doing as well as can be. What have you enjoyed lately? Let us know in the comments. I’d love to rack up a stack of crowd-sourced joy. Thank you for being here, my friends!

With love from my kitchen table,

Kaia