Wednesday Walk: Let's Stroll
Welcome to the Quarantine Creatives newsletter, a companion to my podcast of the same name, which explores creativity, art, and big ideas as we continue to live through this pandemic.
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Trying Something New
If you’ve been reading my work for a while, you know that I have always published this newsletter on Sundays, with the idea being that I would share some longer form writing that might pair well with a cup of coffee and the slower pace of the weekend.
I love that format and will continue to publish Sunday columns, but I also wanted to experiment with doing something shorter during the week that might spark some creativity or provide a dose of positivity.
This is the “Wednesday Walk” version of this newsletter. It will be a little more free form, with links to Tweets, YouTube videos, podcast episodes, or other things that are inspiring me at the moment, plus little updates on life that don’t always fit with the theme of Sunday.
The name for this column is inspired by the nature walks that my kids and I used to take through the woods every Wednesday last year when I was their home school teacher. Whether it was blistering hot, pouring rain, or heavy snow, we would take a hike, observe nature, and just chat.
I hope we can start a similar routine together of sharing little tidbits every Wednesday.
It’s been a good week for observing nature here in the Northeast, though not always in the expected places:
On Saturday, my family and I spent the day hopping around to our local farm stands. They each have their strengths, which is why we visit more than one. Codman Community Farms is our go-to source for pastured eggs, locally roasted coffee, mushrooms, and even some produce. But on Saturdays, they also have a local fish monger set up in the parking lot outside of the barn and sell some amazing fish (much of it caught nearby). That fish became a grilled haddock on Sunday night and Taco Tuesday filling last night.
We also stopped by Clark Farm, Clark Farm Market, and tried to buy some strawberries at Hutchins Farm, but they had sold out within the first 15 minutes of being open! The early bird gets the berries, at least this early in the harvest. In another two weeks, they’ll be much more abundant!
On Sunday, we ate dinner on our deck, and I noticed a baby groundhog was in our yard feasting on the grass. I grabbed my camera and snapped a few photos, only to soon realize that we had at least three (possibly four) baby groundhogs all chomping down for a bit, then running to hide in the brush.
We’ve had an adult groundhog hanging out in the lawn all spring. I thought it looked a little overweight, but it turns out, she was pregnant.
I loved the feeling of watching the groundhogs from the deck through the lens of my camera, trying to anticipate where they were headed and when they’d be in a good spot to snap the shutter. It occurred to me that hunters probably get the same thrill observing wildlife through the sight of a rifle, although I like that snapping a photo still allows the animal to live afterwards, while the gun destroys life in that moment.
I recently heard an interesting episode of The Daily Show’s Beyond the Scenes podcast where Roy Wood Jr explored the issue of trophy hunting in Africa. It was wild hearing about the wealthy people that travel to Africa (mostly from America) to hunt species that are endangered or supposed to be protected by anti-poaching laws. If you’re driving around this week, it’s a good listen and I was happy to learn more about this issue.
I’d love to hear your feedback on this new format, especially as the weeks go on. Please feel free to leave a comment or reply to this message with your thoughts. If you like what you’re reading here, please feel free to share on social media:
Related Reading
If you’d like to catch up on past episodes of the Quarantine Creatives podcast, they can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
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If you’ve missed past issues of this newsletter, they are available to read here.
Stay Safe!
Heath