Monthly Review: March 2024

I look for the little moments all month long. Sometimes they strike me immediately. Sometimes I have to chisel them free of 30 days' worth of mundanities until I can really look at them. And sometimes, like now, I look back on the last month of my life, these precious days that I will never relive, and I wonder, what exactly was I doing for all this time? What do I have to show for it?

There are flashes of wonder, moments of beauty. While I was driving, I saw a bald eagle carrying off a rabbit. I read a book that made me cry. My daffodils were blooming on St. Patrick's Day. But there is nothing to say about them. They happen, and then they are over.

I don't just want to find the beauty; I want it to track me down and whisk me off to some transcendent realm where I can live, if not forever, then at least long enough to gain some transcendent wisdom that will prepare me for the real world, which is often boring and sometimes ugly. Some months I get that. I often think about the angels in the park and the clouds on the dock, and they are a comfort to me even still. I decided a long while ago that it is good for me to sit and write about these moments of beauty even when few people read them, and it is worthwhile to look for them even when I do not find them. Some months are a spinning blur of busyness, and even if there is no one experience I can fix my eyes on, I see flashes of what I am looking for, and I am keeping my eyes open.

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Here's what I read, cooked, and created in the month of March.

What I Read

• Hamnet, Maggie O'Farrell (★★★★★)

• How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster (★★★★★)

• Parable of the Talents, Octavia Butler (★★★)

• The Secret Book of Flora Lea, Patti Callahan Henry (★★★)

If you want to hear the rationale behind my rating, head to my Goodreads for full reviews.

What I Cooked

• Philly Cheesesteak Burgers

Difficulty: ★★

Flavor: ★★★★

Keeper: Yes

Comments: I did these smashburger style, and my goodness, they were delicious.

• Jalapeno Popper Pinwheels

Difficulty: ★

Flavor: ★★★★

Keeper: Yes

Comments: I added some scallions and grated garlic, both of which were good choices. I made this as a lunch for myself rather than an appetizer, but I'm sure it would be a popular one if served at a party.

• Sticky Sticky Buns

Difficulty: ★★★★★

Flavor: ★★★★

Keeper: Mostly?

Comments: These make my favorite cinnamon rolls feel easy and low-maintenance. Even though I followed directions, I never really felt great about the rise I got on my brioche dough, and the fact that this makes more dough than is needed for the rolls just irritates me. I can see myself retrying this with my tried-and-true cinnamon roll dough and extra pecans for the top to see if the payoff is as good with less work.

• Leek, Ham, and Cheese Egg Bake

Difficulty: ★★

Flavor: ★★★★

Keeper: Yes

Comments: This was just a good, classic egg bake. It wasn't astonishingly amazing, but it was good.

What I Created

• Original sonnet "He Rested"

• A little continued progress on my project

May your days be filled with beauty, and may your heart be filled with the willingness to see and give thanks for it.

He Rested [Original Sonnet for Holy Saturday]

Our day of rest has come—we have not slept.

We rise in darkness, taunted by the dawn.

No sun can light these wasted eyes. We wept

to flood our beds with tears: our Lord is gone.

He promised we would know the way, yet He

has gone beyond the scope of foll’wing feet.

His ears are closed to crying. Hands that we

stretch out for rescue find Him out of reach.

(Or so we, darkling, think.) But look—He rests

this Sabbath, for His work is finished here.

The faithful servant wins the keys of death,

sets free the captives, brings the far-off near.

Awaken to the light of life; be blessed

with Him to rise and enter into rest.

Monthly Review: February 2024

Take no thought

for tomorrow, with its shrieking gales and skirling snows,

nor for its cold that racks the bones—

today, it is spring.

Today, you hardly need a coat—

the sun is hot and high; the sky

is blue and blank as a brand-new page.

How good, how good it is

to see bare grass and trust it will be green

again, and soon,

though sooner,

it will shiver

underneath

more snow.

The cold will come again

and freeze this memory over like a shallow pond.

What will it matter,

that it thawed in February for a day,

and you imagined spring had come?

The sun you kiss today

will spit tomorrow in your face—

why love what cannot last?

Take heart, this blue sky sighs to you.

Take heart, this breeze breathes in your ear.

Take heart, this warmth is whispering.

Take heart, for frosts shall burn away,

the darkness shine like noonday, and we

shall have spring again,

its glories forecast on this February day.

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Here's what I read, cooked, and created in the month of February.

What I Read

• Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler (★★★★)

• Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Angela Duckworth (★★★★)––reread

• The Lazarus Project, Aleksandar Hemon (★★)

If you want to hear the rationale behind my rating, head to my Goodreads for full reviews.

What I Cooked

• One Pot Buffalo Chicken Helper

Difficulty: ★★

Flavor: ★★

Keeper: No

Comments: This was one where I really dreaded having to finish the leftovers. The broccoli was added as directed, and it ended up being mushy with that much cooking time, and the buffalo flavor was a little aggressive (and I'm a big buffalo gal). Not a winner.

• Democracy Dip

Difficulty: ★

Flavor: ★★★★★

Keeper: Yes

Comments: Chip dip is one of those foods that you kind of want to taste store-bought. My husband and brothers, who are very snobby when it comes to chip dip, gave this their enthusiastic endorsement. For sure a keeper.

• Salami Roses

Difficulty: ★★

Flavor: ★★★★

Keeper: Yes

Comments: The grease from the melty cheese set off my fire alarm, so these were not quite as romantic for Valentine's Day as hoped. But they were nice, and they did look cute. I went with the crescent roll option.

• Creamiest Peanut Butter Frosting

Difficulty: ★

Flavor: ★★★★★

Keeper: Yes

Comments: Sally is just so good at what she does. I did half a recipe of this on a pan of my favorite brownies to satisfy my peanut butter and chocolate craving, and it was just perfection.

What I Created

• Finally resumed work on my project

• Original blackout poem "Grow in Hope"
  

May your days be filled with beauty, and may your heart be filled with the willingness to see and give thanks for it.