By the providences of summer weather patterns in upstate New York and the location of my grandparents' cabin there, we are prone to rainbows. On the evenings with upstart cloudbursts around sunset, we congregate on the dock once the showers have passed to marvel as a rainbow shimmers into view over the opposite shore. In full Technicolor the prism arcs overhead, and if we are lucky (and we often are), a second bow soon joins it as though it were simply waiting for the entire audience to arrive before beginning the show.
The whole spectacle lasts only minutes, yet in its transience it possesses the permanence of all beauty. There is both an unreality and a hyperreality to such moments. They are at once too beautiful to be really happening to you, ordinary you in your ordinary life, but they are so real that we nearly ache to look at them. They are so utterly outside our commonplace daily existence, but they speak to a fundamental part of our selves, pointing us to the truth that because we share our daily lives with such beauty, they cannot possibly be ordinary.
Beauty ought to always have this power in our lives––the power to call us out of complacency and into deep reverence that, when shared, expresses itself as joy.
As my family crowds the dock to point and snap pictures and squint until the last twinges of color are lost again in gray, I fix the sight of the rainbow in my mind, hoping that, through memory, I will be able to make it last forever.
Here's what I read, cooked, and created in the month of July.
What I Read
Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese-American Heroes in World War II, Daniel James Brown (★★★★★)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling (★★★★★)––reread
Where the Light Fell, Philip Yancey (★★★★)
Tokyo Ever After, Emiko Jean (★★★★)
Kind of a Big Deal, Shannon Hale (★★)
For All Time, Shanna Miles (★★)
A Song Below Water, Bethany C. Morrow (★★)
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke (★★)
If you want to hear the rationale behind my rating, head to my Goodreads for full reviews.
What I Cooked
Thanks to The Great British Baking Show, I am now physically incapable of making bread without the specter of Paul Hollywood appearing in my kitchen to judge the finished product. I get the feeling that my focaccia would not have impressed Paul, but it did taste good, and it was incredibly easy to make.
It's a bold move to include the words "perfect" or "best" in a recipe title, but in this case it is warranted. While the recipe relies mostly on pantry staples and uses only one bowl, the lemon zest and turbinado sugar elevate it. I ended up with a dozen gorgeous and delicious muffins.
Like many great dinners, this one started on Instagram. I saw a Reel, thought it looked good, and decided to give it a try. I halved the recipe since I was feeding only my husband and myself.
The pasta was easy enough (especially since I used my immersion blender rather than my full-sized blender), but the flavor seemed a little flat. I drizzled in some balsamic vinaigrette since I had made a salad to accompany the pasta, and that definitely helped. A squeeze of lemon juice would have had the same effect. Since the recipe came together so easily, I think it would be worth making again.
What I Created
Unpublished original poems on John 13-17
May your days be filled with beauty, and may your heart be filled with the willingness to see and give thanks for it.