Donate To Ukraine + 3 Great Books + Maple Sugaring
Chip in to defned Ukraine directly. Three good reads. A primer on making maple syrup.
Last night, I made the mistake of reading all about the disastrous meeting between T.Rump and President Zelensky in Washington, DC yesterday.
I felt ashamed of and horrified by Trump and Vance’s thuggish behavior and utter lack of decorum. I felt deeply worried for the people of Ukraine. And I felt worried about all of us here in the US with a leader who’s chosen corrupt, brutal Russia as our ally and appears hell bent on deliberately alienating the EU.
So when I got a
email just now encouraging people to donate directly to the Ukrainian government, I did. And it made me feel a little better. 😊 You can and should donate to the government of Ukraine, too. 💸➕ One silver lining of yesterday’s WhiteHouse shitshow is that Europe’s leaders are lining up to pledge their support to Ukraine in the wake of yesterday’s disastrous meeting. More from the New York Times.
Other ways to feel better.
Go outside. 🌳Take a walk or hike. Get some sun on your face. Hug some trees. Listen to the birds - they’ve been arriving in droves here in upstate NY.
Read a good book. 📖Here are three I’ve loved lately-ish:
The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana R. Chambers- I had no idea that Julia Child had served in the OSS in Washington, DC and was then stationed in India and China during WWII. This is a fictionalized account of those years which include her meeting her husband, Paul Child, who served as an Army cartographer in the field.
The Life Impossible by Matt Haig - This novel was just what I needed to read after Trump took over. A mix of magical realism and real realism that was gripping and uplifting in the end.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee - This is a marvelously engrossing novel about various members of a Korean family over a period of time, including the Japanese occupation that I found eye-opening for the glimpse it provides into Korean culture and history as well as the depth of the Japanese culture’s prejudice against Koreans.
Drink some maple sap and make maple syrup. 🍁 If you’ve never tapped maple trees before, I think you will find this foray into forest alchemy deeply satisfying and delicious. We tapped about seven trees this past week and have made one pint of syrup so far as well as drinking sweet cold tree water straight from the spiles. Here’s my how-to.
