Snowmelt #SundaySalon
Happy Sunday! Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at ReaderBuzz. Check out her post and the links to see what other bloggers have been up to in the last week.
How’s the weather?
The temperature reached 51 degrees (Fahrenheit) on Friday and rained a bit. We still have mounds of gray ice and snow that the plows made and a layer of refrozen slush on the ground. There won’t be any more melting for a while as we slip into polar vortex weather.
What are you reading?
I finished and reviewed The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear for British Isles Friday.
I finished Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (2017 Pulitzer winner) by Matthew Desmond (2015 recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant) in time for our book group meeting on Thursday. The book follows several families over a few years as they face evictions in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We all felt much more informed about the vicious cycles that poverty imposes on people. Among many things, I was shocked to learn that the highest risk factor for whether someone gets evicted is having children in the household. Yep, we’re setting people up for failure when they are at their most vulnerable and before they’re even capable of being responsible for themselves.
To give myself a break from hard stories, I picked up a novel from one of the funniest writers I’ve ever read — Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall. I’ve laughed out loud at least three times and I’m only on page 56.
What are you watching?
In another bid for improving my mood via conscious consumption of media, I’m watching Season 5 of All Creatures Great and Small. Since I’m the proud owner of a PBS Passport (a benefit of membership in my local station), I can binge watch the whole series. If you don’t have the Passport, consult your local listings for broadcast times. Each episode is also available to stream for free for a brief time after the broadcast.
What are you doing?
I’m still enjoying my Christmas decorations. I usually take them down on Epiphany. But that was the day before we expected to be snowed in for a week or more. I wanted the cheer of lights and red bows and greenery to make things cozy. I’m still not ready to let that go as we stay inside due to cold. There’s a medieval tradition that the holiday greenery be removed by Candlemas (February 2), so I’ll aim for that.
How are you this fine Sunday?
Anything that cheers you up in this season is a good choice.Good luck with the weather.
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I miss the Christmas lights! I love my PBS passport!
Good luck with the snow! We are melting here!
Have a great week!
Is that what’s going on? The polar vortex? Our temps will plummet this week, drastically, just when the snow has almost all melted. Have a good warm week.
I completely agree with Mae: anything that cheers you up. That’s my strategy, too. I’m sticking to books and other media that highlight the good in the world. I signed on for a challenge to write a poem every day for the next 365 days, and that’s a bright spot.
I do like an occasional dose of reality like Evicted. I remember kids at my school suddenly appearing with papers to move, sad, shuffling around, going place to place, school to school, parents trying to get together enough money to put down for a new place to rent. Very rough.
I hope you will share a bit of your snow with us down here.
I love the idea of keeping your lights up through this stint of cold weather. Stay warm and safe!
This year I am putting some decorations up. Christmas arrived so fast, it seemed, and I think some decorating would have bolstered my mood. Heck yeah, leave those decorations!
Love All Creatures – the books and shows.
There is something very special about Christmas decorations and light with the snow! Have a great week Joy.
As someone who is preoccupied with social justice, I’m sure I would find Evicted informative. Adding to my TBR list. Thanks for reminding me that All Creatures is back!
It is cold and snowy here, but we did have a little melting yesterday (I think yesterday) it was in the mid-30’s. So, we had to be careful of ice this morning, as it is now only 22. I am the type that likes my house back in order after the holidays, so our tree is down, but I can see the appeal of having it up longer. Have a great week!
I love Christmas lights well into January, too, even if we aren’t snowed in! This is such a dark time of year and the extra lights boost my mood. Evicted sounds like a heavy, but important book.
Evicted sounds like a hard but interesting read. Adding it to my list. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I just learned that in China you don’t get evicted if you lose your job and can’t pay your rent or mortgage.
I don’t think I’ll be able to get to my front porch without slipping on ice until August. There’s just so much of it!
I went back and forth n my Christmas decorations but ultimately took them down but, honestly, only due to the timing of other events in my life. Have a great week!
Evicted sounds like an eye-opening but tough read! I’d need some light-hearted entertainment after that, too. I have a PBS Passport and I’ve been interested in starting All Creatures Great and Small for a while. Happy to see you’re enjoying it after 5 seasons! Have a lovely week, Joy!
Evicted sounds tough — but illuminating. I’ll have to check out Alexis Hall b/c I could use a laugh. We have plenty of ice here as well, which makes walking tricky, sigh. Enjoy your week! The PBS series sounds good.
Thank you for stopping by my blog and giving me a pep talk about self care. I made it through today by having QVC on the TV all day so I had no chance of running into anything about the inauguration. Ha! Now football. I think I will make a loaf of bread for dinner, too. Have a good week. Stay grounded.