sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

March 31, 2022


final march unraveling
posted by soe 3:34 am

Final March Unraveling

I’m nearly up to the heel turn for my socks, which is very exciting. I will be glad to have finished a project and to have new stripey socks to wear.

I’m almost halfway through Light from Uncommon Stars. I don’t know that enjoy is the right word for such a book, but I’m caught up in the story now and want to see if everyone will do right by one another.

I finished listening to A Marvellous Light (loved it) and have moved on to Cassandra Peterson’s memoir, Yours Cruelly, Elvira. I’m still in early days, but I’m enjoying her voice so far.

Head over to As Kat Knits to hear about what others are reading and crafting.

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March 30, 2022


flowering trees in dupont
posted by soe 1:24 am

Cherry Blossoms

I didn’t make it down to the Tidal Basin this year for peak bloom season, which was early last week. While I still might go down to Hains Point, where they have a better distribution of early- and late-blooming trees, I did admire the flowering trees in my own neighborhood. While I put on Flickr that these blooms were cherries, they might, in fact, be crabapples.

Peach Blossoms

These are definitely peach flowers, because eventually this tree, located in the yard of the Colombian ambassador, grows fruit.

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March 29, 2022


top ten 21st century classics
posted by soe 1:01 am

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl asks us to share the Top Ten 21st Century Books I Think Will Become Classics.

I’m not sure my reading preferences will line up with canon, but what can you do:

  1. The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak
  2. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
  3. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
  4. The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas
  5. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
  6. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
  7. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
  8. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
  9. March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
  10. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Interestingly this list features a lot more books by men than my usual lists. I wonder what that says about my internalization about the inherent value and timelessness of male subjects and voices. Probably not good things.

What books do you consider modern classics?

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March 28, 2022


final march weekending
posted by soe 1:07 am

My weekend was a quiet one.

My bike stayed in the laundry room, but Sarah and I met for ice cream and a stroll along the river Friday afternoon.

I didn’t meet up with a friend to watch the Standford-Maryland game, but I watched quite a bit of women’s basketball.

No books went back to the library, but I listened to my audiobook and hit the 100-page mark in my print book.

Mount Laundry wasn’t vanquished, but it shrank in size.

I failed to go to the garden, but I shopped for vegetables and plants and cleaning supplies.

The butter on the counter didn’t turn into cookies, but Karen and I talked on the phone about the cake her family had made.

I didn’t see the cherry blossoms, but I saw a rainbow.

Not everything I’d hoped to do this weekend got done, but maybe it’s okay.

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March 25, 2022


no mask outdoors, crash, and guest from the woods
posted by soe 1:06 am

Spring Flowers

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Both my COVID isolation period and the subsequent masking period have come to a close. It felt wonderful to walk to the grocery store tonight naked-faced until I went inside.

2. We had a thunderstorm last night, the sort where the sky cracks right overhead. This is our first of the year, and while I know it can be a violent storm, particularly for those living unhoused, I had the privilege of witnessing it from the safety of my couch and did not have to dread it. (Corey, on the other hand, definitely was not thrilled.)

3. As I was walking home Sunday evening, I noticed a large bird suddenly flapping against the wind just above traffic ahead of me. At first I thought it was an eagle or an owl, but then it came in for a landing on the ground, making me almost certain that it was a wild turkey. The jogger in front of me paused and turned around, incredulous, to confirm that he was seeing what he thought he was, as the hen looked back at us and then crossed the road. Because it was heading toward one of the busiest roads in our area, I followed, hoping to corral it back to safer climes. It paused by a decommissioned bus stop, as if hoping an alternative mode home might arrive. It walked on a bit more, before darting across the street, in front of what I can only assume was a very surprised driver, and up into the neighborhood that would likely put it back in the direction of its nest. While I live in what many would still consider to be a downtown area, I’m also two blocks away from the woods, and it’s easy to forget that until the wildlife materialize to remind you.

Turkey Is Disgusted Bus Stop Has Been Decommissioned

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

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March 24, 2022


first unraveling of spring
posted by soe 1:19 am

The First Unraveling of Spring

Look! It’s progress on knitting! This is the second of a stripey rainbow pair I began last year and put aside after the first one was complete. One of my coworkers recently learned to knit and another crochets and so we’ve started a knitting circle, with last week being our first meeting. I felt confident that I should have something to work on — and also, I’ve lost my knitting mojo a bit and stripey socks are potato chip knitting.

On the reading front, I’ve been dipping in an out of print books in search of one that holds my attention for more than a chapter. Light from Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki may be that book. I’m up to page 30 in this sci fi novel about a woman who bartered her soul to the devil (I assume for violin prowess, but that part has yet to be revealed) and now is in the final year of needing to find seven other people to send him. There’s also a transgender runaway who may be a violin prodigy and a starship captain and mother of four who’s in hiding on earth with her family and passing their time making doughnuts. That’s a lot to squeeze into 30 pages.

In the ears, I’m adoring Freya Marke’s A Marvellous Light, about a man who gets a government job only to find out it’s as a liaison to the magical world. On top of that, the guy he’s replacing has gone missing, and he’s been cursed in an effort to get him to reveal a magical secret, and he’s maybe falling in love with the magician who’s his counterpart.

How about you? What are you reading or crafting? Head to As Kat Knits to see the roundup.

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