A lousy salary, and a fantastic life
What a day for a daydream. What a day for a day-dreamin' boy.
Taking a light touch with the opener to this week’s newsletter because:
It’s a glorious day (74° in March?!), and I believe on glorious days one should get outside — especially you!
I’m devoting extra time to the next letter’s monologue, in memory of a certain something that kicked off five years ago next week. Something that has become an intentional black hole in our collective memory but is nonetheless rippling through us today.
So in lieu of essays and comments, I am accepting flowers — specifically those that you, dear reader, go out and plant today. Consider this your reminder to start planning your garden, because now is the time to start seeds in Zone 6.
You’re probably familiar with the Victory Garden of WWII. But I prefer the terminology of its predecessor: the War Garden. Here in the ‘20s, let us popularize a garden that rebels — against skyrocketing grocery prices, against consumerism, against pixels.
Now: If you’re saying to yourself, “Self, I am not that into gardening,” I invite you to eschew the presumed expectations of extremists (me). Despite what you’ll see in the influencers’ pretty pictures, your attempts need be neither big nor beautiful. You should be perfectly proud of small and hideous efforts; this is about rebellion, not conformation. Buy an un-killable plant and tend it. Stick your finger in the dirt sometimes.
For there are three cures for our modern ills: ink, sweat, and soil.
Here are some resources to get you started.
away we go.
How to design a garden from scratch
By Angel Collins for House & Garden
Best line: The joy of a garden is that you can watch it grow over many years and therefore I think it is best to stick to a simple, classical design. You can then re-energise and experiment with the planting over time, as you become more confident with the landscape you're working in.
The single most important thing you can do for your garden is to consider the preparation of soil. Think of the wonderful soil in Monty Don's garden and aim for that: no compaction, good drainage, and pliable soil rich with nutrients. Your plants will love you for it and give you a healthy garden for years. Compost and good soil are two of the first steps towards a wonderful garden (see our guide to how to make compost for more information.
The Last Observers by Maja K. Mikkelsen for Patagonia
Best line: In a world constantly pulled toward efficiency that corrupts experience, Karin and Lennart’s story shines as a beacon of rarity and necessity. Told through the eyes of their daughter Maja, we’re invited into an extraordinary and heartwarming love story, where lasting happiness is found in birds, everyday rhythms and a profound connection with nature. And we’re reminded that one can land “a lousy salary, and a fantastic life.”
Will Shortz Is Back in the Game by Matthew Schneier for Vulture
Best line: “The New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz was sitting at his desk in Pleasantville, hard at work around 11 p.m., when he shifted to the left and found he couldn’t shift back. The side of his mouth was drooling. Shortz recognized the signs: He was having a stroke. Later, at the hospital, he had a second, larger stroke and then, after thrombolysis to dissolve the clot that caused it, a brain bleed — a rare and serious complication. He spent ten days in intensive care, prognosis uncertain, before he was stable enough to move to an inpatient rehab center, where he would begin the long work of recovery. …
Shortz has been the puzzle editor at the Times since 1993, when he was considered a young upstart: At 41, he was 36 years younger than his predecessor, Eugene T. Maleska. But time passes quickly in easy Mondays, tricky Thursdays, taxing Saturdays, and oversize Sundays. About a month after his strokes, the paper announced that for the first time in 30 years, the crossword would be in non-Shortz, though recognizably Shortzian, hands: those of Joel Fagliano, who has published under Shortz since he was 17, spent college summers as Shortz’s intern, and became a puzzle editor at the Times in 2016.”
The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books by Rose Horowitch for The Atlantic
Best line: “But the student told Dames that, at her public high school, she had never been required to read an entire book. She had been assigned excerpts, poetry, and news articles, but not a single book cover to cover. “My jaw dropped,” Dames told me. The anecdote helped explain the change he was seeing in his students: It’s not that they don’t want to do the reading. It’s that they don’t know how. Middle and high schools have stopped asking them to.”
home tour
River Bend House, 1968, Yarra River
By Hayley Tillett for The Local Project
Best line: “From the outset, we framed the project around the idea of repair, extending beyond built heritage to include cultural repair, ecological restoration and reconnection to place,” says architect Vaughan Howard.
Seth Putnam is an editor and writer in Chicago. He lives with his wife, son, and daughter in a 1920s home that is the epitome of a work in progress.
"Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." —Mary Oliver
LOVE paying attention to the land…celebrating it…caring for it…replenishing it…planting it…& always miraculously receiving the bounty of it…