nature's balm (a freeš«posting)
a diary of caring + a terrific novel to fall into + I hear beans are sexy now!
hey-hey,
Last week I received dueling emails. One lovely person raised a white flag.
āThe world is a shitshow! I come to your newsletter for respite. Please put the calls to action at the bottom and Stanley at the top! I canāt take it right now.ā
I get it.
Soon after another email arrived which basically said, āThank god you include calls to action in your newsletter. I need to feel like thereās something to be done. It brings me hope.ā
I get it.
With no further adieu, Stanley, rushing toward the sunrise:
ā¦
My month sojourn in Santa Cruz has been a bittersweet time. (Read more about The Right to Folly below.) And, Iāve witnessed so much beauty and solace in nature. A red-tailed hawk hunting for mice on West Cliff, the cormorant rookery, a pod of dolphins, a sea lion nursery, and oh, the sun, melodramatic in its technicolor! All crowned by a rainbow.
Friend, I hope you too are finding solace in these tough times. Keep me in the loop!
Thank you paid subscribers!
If youāre a free subscriber maybe youāre looking for a way to say merci for this spot-of-sunshine in your inbox, itās easy, become a paid subscriber. Iād love that for both of us!
read:
I just finished reading a terrific novel.
VICTIM, by
is propulsive, funny, and oh so smart. I completely fell into the world of Javier Perez, who accidentally discovers that his trauma has currency. When his father, a drug dealer, is murdered right in front of him, Javi is welcomed into the bosom of solicitous teachers and counselors at school who give him a pass on doing any work due to his life situation. With a cash strapped, single and very savvy mom, a best friend serving time, Javi learns to massage aspects of his life into packages the world wants to hear and use them to his advantageā¦ a college scholarship? ā A column in the school paper? ā The bed of his crush? ā and on and on. He flies far too close to the sun. Thereās a speedy and delicious comeuppance. But the beauty of the book is the way in which it calls out all of us for our hunger. We devour stereotypical stories of the struggling immigrant, the POC who rises up from drugs and poverty.What weāre missing is that the truth is far more interesting. I particularly love the passages when Javi is teaching creative writing in his old neighborhood. Man-0-Man, he is such a mediocre teacher! When heās hired to write for a magazine about how his students are dealing with yet another police murder of a POC, he ditches his planned lesson on character development. He hopes for tears from the kids and instead gets the perfect teenaged response.
The classroom groaned. Tyrell laid his face on his desk. āDeadass, Iām tired of talking about race, Mr. P. We had Spanish history month, the day Rosa Parks sat on that damn bus, MLKās b-day, Black History Month, Malcolm Xās b-day. Like, shout-out to all them, power to the people and shit, but Iām tired of always talking about all that stuff, bro.ā He turned over his notebook to show a drawing of a character heād created wearing a hoodie, headphones, and a thick rope chain. āIām really tryna talk about the adventures of Super G.ā
Youāll have to pick up the novel to read the column Javi manufactures! Itās straight up pablum!
Want more community in 2025? We have zoom r.w.e. book group!
The book group is a perk for paid subscribers and let me tell you we are a lively bunch!
Go ahead, upgrade to paid and claim your spot. I hope to get to know you better!
Check my read.write.eat. Bookshop Store, where you will find many of the books I've recommended in the newsletter. Buying books from my shop is a way you can be a friend to the newsletter.
write:
Hard times call for documentation. I think we should all take up diary keeping. Write whenever you want. Write on your computer, on your phone, or in a paper journal. Find a pal and make a commitment to one another to write about your day, every day, for one month. Have a text check in with just word count. Write in bed, outside, at the beach, in the parking lot at your kidsā preschool, at a wine bar or coffee shop. Doodle, draw, add a flower, or some words torn from a magazine. Make it yours. Make it sing!
Some benefits:
Regular check-ins with yourself reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety
Keeping a diary can be beneficial for the trifecta of mental wellness, personal growth, and self-awareness.
Creative insights and new solutions to problems arise from habitual, uncensored writing.
Diary keeping can improve your memory. Writing down experiences solidifies the details. Keeping track of significant events, people, and places that otherwise might fade from your thoughts can be a boon to your fiction and/or memoir writing!
A diary is a good way to appreciate the people in your life. Write about the funny, kind, beautiful things your pals and strangers bring to your world.
A diary entry provides satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. Itās a record of experiences and reflections over time. Reading back you will see how much youāve grown as a person!
ā¦
Iāve been keeping a diary.
Not going to lieāit has been awful trying to care for my very resistant mother. Iāve learned that what I deem help, she deems rude intrusion.
In case you too are caring for elders, or in case you think you might someday be an elder, or caring for an elder, Iāve put my diary in a little subcategory up at the masthead of this newsletter. The Right to Folly will never be emailed to you, but if youād like to follow along in the hysteria and hilarity and heartbreak, I welcome your company! In fact, I crave your company. Knowing someone is reading and commiserating makes me feel a little less lonely. For chronology, start at the bottom and work your way up! Itās a wild ride.
š«š«š«If you enjoy r.w.e. will you kindly pause to hit the ā¤ļø at the top left or bottom of this post? It sure does help in the substack scheme of things and gives me a lift! xoNatalie š«š«š«
eat:
Smitten Kitchen says 2025 is the year of sexy beans! Iām in.
This week I made this delicious and heartening no recipe bean dish.
Pizza-ish White Beans:
About 2c dried cannellini beans. Cook on the stovetop in plenty of water and a bit of salt until tender. It takes as long as it takes! 1 -2 hours dependent on how old the beans are, and how big. Plan ahead and keep taste testing. Once tender, drain, and save about 1c of the pot liquor. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, heat several glugs of olive oil, sautĆ© 1 sweet onion, diced, 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced. After a couple minutes, add 2-3 carrots, peeled and diced. 2-3 stalks of celery, diced, and 1 fennel bulb, diced. SautĆ© for about 5-7 minutes. Add 3/4 lb bulk Italian sausage. I prefer chicken. If you like pork you be you! If youāre vegetarian of course skip the meat. Add red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, a rosemary sprig all to taste. Add 1-28oz can of stewed tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Add the tender beans to the pot, along with enough pot liquor to make it soupy but not soup! Low simmer for 20 minutes more.
Serve your pizza-ish beans with a generous amount of parmesan cheese grated over the top and garlic bread alongside. Toss some salad greens with a nice tart and garlicky dressing and you are set!
I completely recommend you serve this up in big shallow bowls and cue up CONCLAVE, itās fantastic!
calls to action:
Here are resources that may make you feel better:
- has a terrific newsletter, CHOP WOOD, CARRY WATER, in which she brings us both news and actions.
Use the 5 Calls app to contact your representatives on various issues, they include sample scripts to use when you leave messages.
Directly call your reps through the Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121.
Indivisible consistently offers opportunities to speak up, mobilize, and get involved, locally and nationally.
I quit Amazon and I feel great. I recognize that for some of us Amazon makes meds and groceries easy, you get a free pass. But, if you can see your way clear to get your money out of Bezosās pocket, hereās a guide from
.
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