I attended a session on Friday hosted by the New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education at the Medford Board of Education building and the presenter was Kory Kutzler from Resilient Edge. He was talking about trauma and developing resiliency, and one of his products that he brought to sell was a journal. Practicing gratitude was a feature of one of his products, and he was going over how you could journal gratitude.

I had gotten into that a bit a while back, writing “Three Goods” in Day One from January through March of 2024. I had Todoist remind me each night to make a list, and I enjoyed it, although sometimes it was a stretch to dig up something. That stretch, though, was helpful in that it assisted me in finding even small things that I could appreciate. I knew it was time to stop when I found the reminders annoying.

Kory’s discussion of this practice reminded me of my own short practice of gratitude, and I thought for a moment that maybe I should do that again, even if it were just a quick list in Apple Notes or an index card. But then I thought about Sunday Serial. Each week, I sit down and pick out at least three things that you can consider or check out, and they are some things that brought me a moment (or more) of joy, however ephemeral or forward-looking. So in that way, I am still very much practicing gratitude, albeit not daily.

Orthogonally related to practicing three goods–another thing I tried out when I was not looking forward to the day ahead was to write down three things I was looking forward for the next day on the evening before. These things were usually pretty small, like rowing in the morning, having a banana, or making a cup of coffee. I still do this from time to time.

What’s to look forward to about rowing before dawn, you might ask? It’s hard to find something that’s good for you that you can stick to, that helped you solve a problem or improve yourself, and to be well enough to do, and be able to tread down into the basement without a drive to a gym or waking anyone up. Rowing has very much been that for me.

We can’t delude ourselves that every day is going to be a fun, light, and carefree. We also can’t dedicate our lives to small pleasures. But there’s a special place for them in our hearts.

Bellview Winery’s Sunset Red Wine

Rhonda and I hit our usual spot for a growler refill and the Serafina we enjoyed (mostly me) last time kicked while they were filling our half-liter growler, so I went with the Sunset. We’ve had it before, but it’s been a while. I asked for a quick summary and the associate described it as a “light dry red,” which sounded perfect for a warm spring evening with dropping temps, and a chuck roast in the sous vide tank for tonight’s dinner. The website describes Sunset as “29% 2020 Chambourcin, 18% 2021 Chambourcin, 15% 2019 Syrah/Merlot, 14% 2021 Cabernet Franc, 13% 2019 Chamby/Cab Franc, 5% Blaufrankisch 2021, 5% 2021.” I’m more of a red wine fine but I’ve really gotten into whites since we’ve been trying wineries. I usually drink up all the red when we get it.

Somewhere I got into drinking Cabernet Sauvignon, which I like plenty, but I have always enjoyed lighter reds, notably cutting my teeth on Beaujolais and especially enjoying the fleeting availability of the nouveau variety. Wine is fun because of the remarkable variety of styles, even if you only prefer reds or whites.

MailMaven

I don’t know that I’m going to move my Mac-based emailing to MailMaven, but upon first blush, it checks off many of the boxes that I look for in an email application. Smart Folders? Check. Gmail and iCloud support? Check. Mac-assed Mac app? Check. Support even emailed me back… on a Sunday. Which is wholly unexpected.

Watermelon Season

I love watermelon. I’ve always liked watermelon, but my weight-loss journey found me eating more fresh watery things that aren’t very processed, and a rediscovery for me was watermelon. I think a bit part of why is the water part: I was rowing a lot, and intensely, and was often thirsty peripheral to my efforts. The structure of watermelon is such that large chunks of it are still low in calories, so it’s a good thing to eat when you’re hungry but trying to be careful. This isn’t the first watermelon of the season, but it’s the first (of many) full-size melons I’ve gleefully toted out of our local Shop Rite.

Tarragon Omelette

Rhonda and I picked up three pounds of bacon at the butcher during spring break, and we’re loathe to waste it, so I usually make a bunch on one morning each weekend. Eggs are made to order, and Aaron asked for an omelette.

I’ve been around the horn with omelettes, making French-style in stainless steel pans and country-style in the cast iron. Most recently I’ve been making them on the Blackstone griddle we have.

I was hustling out to the garden for some chives to juke the dish and spied the tarragon. I asked Copilot if tarragon goes well in omelettes, and it was most enthusiastic about the pairing. Aaron said it was great.