Week 17: The 2019 Voting with My Dollar Project
Finally, spring. The thing about this season is that it barely exists. We think of our Earth as having four seasons, roughly of equal length. But in truth, winter is forever, summer just long enough to make snow sound romantic again, and spring? But a glimpse. From zero sign of life and hope, suddenly one day, there are buds on all the trees, crocuses and dandelions everywhere, peepers galore, and ferns unspooling their glory. Blink again; it’s summer.
Spring has never been a favorite season of mine because of its transitory nature. One minute you’re shivering, the next you’re sweating. One moment it’s misty, the next, you realize you haven’t seen your sunglasses in weeks and really need them right now. It’s kind of like the perimenopause of seasons, and I already have enough mood swings in my life.
Being a time of relentless change and shifting light, it also makes you notice how dirty the windows are, how full your pantry is of bulk foods you won’t need unless nuclear winter falls, and how no one in your family has proper warm-weather shoes that fit right.
I always spend money in spring because so many things seem to need this sort of attention. From sneakers for the girls to pricey organic bug spray to skincare supplies for myself, it’s a season of, um, renewal. I also tend to go on impulsive event-ticket-buying sprees as I lay the summer out, certain we can pull off back-to-back-to-back activities so we don’t miss anything. Bluegrass festivals! Beach weekends! AirBnBs in outlying New England towns!
They say millennials value experiences over things, and I consider myself an honorary millennial in that regard. But, of course, living in the country, some of the best experiences I have involve being home with my family during the “off” times — the things that are free.
What I’m eating:
Checking myself into rehab for Honey Mama’s chocolate soon.
What I’m watching:
Game of Thrones, obviously.
What I’m reading:
“Guantanamo’s Darkest Secret” — It took me two evenings to read this New Yorker article, but it was so fascinating. About Guantanamo’s “highest-value detainee” in the years following 9/11, and how it was all a case of hysteria gone awry, and how a guard assigned to his watch eventually ended up converting to Islam.
What I’m listening to:
“If I Had a Hammer” 400 times this morning on the way to school.
What I’m working on:
4 ways additive manufacturing creates a more Earth-friendly industry
Hi Joslyn, I just read some of your writing. Very good article about the 4 seasons.