I hope you don’t miss the last item on this list, it may be the most important.
That said, the pressure to make the most of every summer minute can conflict with expectations and opportunities. Following are some touch-points that helped me balance focusing, relaxing and recharging during summer 2022.
BOOKS
Hello Molly by Molly Shannon is everything a good memoir should be. Honest and refreshing. The humor is strong, but there is so much more in the revealing of a life and the journey of becoming.
How to Not Be Afraid, Gareth Higgins. Being honest, fear has either controlled or impacted much of my life. More than a simple ”how to" Higgins shares stories of life and community that offer hope and strength for a better future for the reader and the greater human family.
Murder at the Mission, Blaine Harden. Helpful in correcting my schoolboy view of the Whitman “Massacre.” Provides a better understanding of the people and their bumbled work and misguided mission. Also a greater sense of the entire shift in the region following the cry of manifest destiny and the Oregon Trail movement.
Red Paint: the Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk by Sasha LaPointe is a raw and beautiful journey of place and soul. I’m a sucker for the Puget Sound setting and especially the references to Chuckanut Drive and the Horseshoe in Bellingham.
Violeta, Isabel Allende. The perfect novel for these waning (we hope) days of the pandemic. The story follows one life over a hundred years, beginning in one pandemic and ending in another.
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert was the perfect book to help me go forward in pursuing my creative passions, especially writing.
The Book of Longings, Sue Monk Kidd. A great book of what if. Fascinating idea, a great story.
Search by Michelle Huneven is my book of the summer. She wraps a story of church people and culture into the midst of a search for a new pastor. She gets the inner workings of a church community perfectly. It doesn’t hurt that I am in the midst of helping our church through it’s own current search at this time.
Zero Fail, Carol Leonnig. Everything you might want to know about the Secret Service since the time of JFK. Or possibly wish you didn’t know. Fascinating history, well written and eye opening. As I near posting this another Secret Service Director “resigns” under the shadow of January 6th.
MUSIC
Rhiannon Gidden’s keeps making music and making news as she reinvents the Silkroad musical ensemble, founded by Yo-Yo Ma. This will be a multi-year project building social consciousness and community through rich music. Be watching and listening. And while you are waiting you can dive into her collection https://www.rhiannongiddens.com/rhiannon-giddens
Willie Nelson is about to turn 90. Don’t miss this piece that brings light to his life, music and much more. Willie Nelson's Long Encore
If Spencer LaJoye did nothing but Plowshare Prayer it would have been enough. But there is more. We were crushed we didn’t get to hear their show in Olympia this summer. Please, please listen to Plowshare Prayer
Courtney Marie Andrews and Loose Future. I look forward to each new song and the entire album dropping in October.
TELEVISION
The Old Man. Say Jeff Bridges and I’m hooked. Sixty some years ago I was obsessed with watching Sea Hunt with his dad, Lloyd Bridges. Add Amy Brenneman, John Lithgow, a great supporting cast and an engaging story. So great.
Only Murders in the Building. Season one was great. Season two was another winner. Steve Martin and Martin Short are treasures and it is a joy to see them work together. Selena Gomez blends perfectly with the duo. The ending is perfect.
Dark Winds. Set in the Navajo Nation in the Southwest in the ‘70’s. It brings a psychological thriller that has local law enforcement Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, played by Zahn McClarnon, working out his own life demons while trying to care for the greater community.
Reservation Dogs. Seeing the youthful cast grow together in this second season is (binging) bliss. In the midst of an unending string of prefect casting moves, Dallas Goldtooth as Spirit wins my heart. His depth of insight blended with a “I don’t give a shit” attitude is everything I want in my spirit guide.
PODCASTS
Making Sense, #288, the End of the Global Order. Host Sam Harris talks with Peter Zeihan and Ian Bremmer going beyond the daily news cycle to look deeper into what is happening globally and what may be on the horizon. A warning that deserves our attention. Making Sense #288
Will Be Wild makes the list again. A bonus episode was added in August. The January 6th Insurrection is far from behind us. Our shared and individual responses will impact our daily lives and future. Will Be Wild (Hearing Breakdown)
Revisionist History, I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me. Malcom Gladwell cuts through selfish posturing and lays bare the call to basic humanity as he speaks to the value of “ordinary acts of kindness.” Bonus suggestion, the preceding episode, When Will met Grace, is a primer in understanding cultural change. Revisionist History, I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me