Halfway to 90
That’s what my kid told me I was on Friday, which was, obviously, my 45th birthday.
Thanks, kid.
And also, hopefully I’m halfway to 90! Longevity runs on one side of my family, so 🤞.
I’ve always loved having a summer birthday, even though popular wisdom says summer birthdays are the worst, since so many people are away, kids are out of school, and stuff like that. But whatever. My birthday is my birthday and I’ve always loved it.
Talking with my mom about it the other day, she made a good point: An early July birthday usually happens in the context of people feeling very saturated by social gatherings. Gatherings at the end of school, for graduations, the long holiday weekend, the start of summer, etc. etc.
But guess what? Not this year.
British Columbia started allowing unlimited outdoor socializing on July 1st. And as it happened, my husband and I were both exactly two-weeks from our second shots as of my birthday.
So we did something we hadn’t done in two years: We invited a bunch of friends over to the backyard.
And let me tell you, it was an evening of unfettered, unqualified, unadulterated joy.
With one exception, it was the first social gathering anyone had attended in nearly a year and a half.
Some of us hugged.
Every smile went straight to my heart and burrowed in. Days later, I still feel them in there.
Every bit of laughter I caught from across our small yard, every squeal as a child ran by, every time someone I know and love and hadn’t seen in ages stopped to chat—every single moment was like magic.
I still can’t believe it really happened.
I hope we all keep noticing the tiniest of happy details, appreciating the love all around us. I hope we don’t forget how special it is. I hope we don’t ever take it for granted.
I’ve been crocheting my Willow Cardigan; I’m in endless, relaxing rows of double crochet now, and enjoying every stitch.
And I’m starting to mull my next weaving project…
I hope that, wherever you are, you’re getting your shots if you haven’t already, and that you’re enjoying reconnecting with people you love.
Onward!
Kim
Items of Note
There’s a few hours left in our Summer Sale over at Digits & Threads. Until 9pm Pacific tonight, get 10% off memberships, and enjoy what we’ve published so far over the last nine months, in addition to what’s coming in the next year!
Check out this eye-popping embroidery, eh?
Will be putting this into rotation. Possibly in a few minutes.
Will I get my sewing machine out? Will I become a skirt-wearing person? Idk.
Considering taking my new-to-me inkle loom, which I’ve never used, to the hay farm. Have you used one? Do you have a favourite project/pattern? Please share!
Speaking of weaving, I spent hours using this last week, only to conclude that I really do think grey and black are the most beautiful shades of all 😂.
What I’m making: A crochet sweater. And probably some muffins in a few minutes.
What I’m watching: Motherland Fort Salem. It got better over the course of the first season. I expected the second season to be terrible, but we just watched the first episode and I was shocked by how great it was. Things got super complex at the end of the first, and the second is just going all the way with it, without screwing it all up, at least so far.
What I’m reading: Meh. I’ve picked Wizard’s First Rule back up, which I’ve been reading in fits and starts since last summer. I’ll finish it eventually. I did finish listening to the audiobook of Daisy Jones & the Six, which I highly recommend. It’s read by a full cast, and it’s great! The kid and I are very close to finishing The Wanderer, by Sharon Creech, and last night I was a blubbering fool over it. He was unimpressed. I promised him I’ll try to keep it together tonight. On deck is Refugee, by Alan Gratz (hi Wendi!). Ok, it’s not really on deck. We started the book last week at the hay farm, when we’d forgotten to bring The Wanderer. The story is about three children, each from a different place and a different era, and the circumstances that led them to seek asylum. I’d assumed the kid would relate most to the Jewish kid fleeing Nazi Germany, and I don’t know why I assumed that, but his favourite chapters are the ones about a Cuban girl in the mid-’90s. I’m looking forward to getting back to this book; it’s really wonderful so far, and we’ve already been having super conversations about the circumstances each kid is facing.