.
If you look at the statistics (and I try not to, because I'm never sure I'm interpreting them correctly), supposedly, this spring hasn't been much colder than any other spring. But we've had weeks on end of gray and rain with barely a day of sun poking through, so much so that it feels as though spring isn't even here yet.
On one of the numberless drizzly 45 degree days, I shoved my feet into shoes and shrugged into the winter coat I keep having to pull out of the closet, and I grabbed Dobby to bring him outside for his lunchtime out. Resentfully, I opened the door and braced myself for the wind.
And then I looked at the lawn across from our building, and saw to my shock that it was green. Brilliantly, beautifully green, just like spring should be. I stood there a second longer than necessary just to take it all in, this beauty that had been growing for weeks before it became evident to my ungrateful eyes.
All spring long I have waited for flowers and sunshine and budding trees––something substantive and obvious. Again, I was reminded that beauty meets me in the everyday, and I was surprised to discover what I should have already known: that beauty grows quietly, and it does not need to yell to get our attention. Eventually, we will take notice, and our lives will be far richer once we do.
Here's what I read, cooked, and created in the month of April.
What I Read
One True Loves, Elise Bryant (★★★★)
Aggressively Happy: A Realist's Guide to Believing in the Goodness of Life, Joy Clarkson (★★★★★)
Pies & Prejudice, Heather Vogel Frederick (★★★★★)––reread
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk (★★★★)
Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation, Parker J. Palmer (★★)
Girl, Unframed, Deb Caletti (★★★★)
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, Bryan Stevenson (★★★★★)
The Song of Achilles, Madeleine Miller (★★★★)
If you want to hear the rationale behind my rating, head to my Goodreads for full reviews.
What I Cooked
Not to be deterred by my first disastrous attempt to make butterscotch pudding, I determined to try again, and this recipe caught my eye. I used light brown sugar because it was what I had, but otherwise followed the recipe precisely. Whatever I did paid off with a silky and delicious pudding. Since this recipe truly does require only pantry staples, it's a great one to keep in your back pocket.
Finding myself in the rare and happy position of having extra Gouda and Gruyere to use up, I thought it would be nice to do something a little fancy. Nothing says fancy in quite the same way as having to babysit individual pancakes as delicate as tissue paper, so I decided to make crepes. This recipe made a simple crepe that could go savory or sweet (and indeed, since I had leftovers, it did both), and the results were delicious.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Reese's eggs and Starburst jelly beans are the best Easter candies, but since they run out so fast, it's hard to snag them in time. I can't make jelly beans from scratch, but I thought I would try my hand at the Reese's eggs. Surprisingly, they were not an extraordinary amount of work. Although my husband wasn't a huge fan since my mix of dark and semisweet chocolate wasn't as sweet as the original, I thought they were excellent, and I am greatly looking forward to polishing off the ones I stashed in my freezer.
What I Created
Original blackout poem "Love Letter"
Original sonnet "A Change of Clothes"
May your days be filled with beauty, and may your heart be filled with the willingness to see and give thanks for it.