10 Things I'm Loving Lately
Well.
I try to do these 10TILL posts bimonthly, so this has been on the books anyway; but with all of the mess of the world right now, I’ll be honest — I haven’t necessarily been in a very gratitude-list-kinda mood over the past week or so.
However, I think that makes it even more important in a way; and while I didn’t make it a point on the list itself, writing all of this down was actually pretty great. Wherever you are and however the COVID-19 crisis is treating you, maybe try making a list of your own today. It sounds trite, but it’s uplifting.
Big news: We bought a toaster. My roommates and I haven’t had one, and I eat toast and eggs for breakfast basically every morning, and have been just toasting my bread in the oven, which has led to several nasty burns, because I am… a reckless toast-er, apparently. So anyway, we finally got a toaster a few weeks ago and I have been just very pleased about it.
One Long River of Song. I like this book so much that I’m cheating and telling you about it before a Stack post. A collection of some of the most beautifully written, emotionally empathetic essays I have ever read. Breathtaking.
I bought this Outdoor Voices top like a month ago, and was skeptical because A. I honestly haven’t been that impressed with OV clothes in practice (sorry to white girls everywhere, their marketing is brilliant though!) and B. the bra is built-in. I have never enjoyed a built-in-bra workout tank situation. Ever. But! I loved the color and the cut, and I decided to chance it. After many vigorous climbing sessions, can report: This baby is both functional and fabulous. Get you one.
Seeing the contents of people’s end-of-the-world grocery carts. Don’t hear me wrong, here — this pandemic is not fun, and I’m not talking about the people panic-hoarding more than they need. If you bought 97 rolls of toilet paper and all of the pasta at Kroger, I’ve got bad news for you, Karen; you’re gonna psychologically break waaaaaay before you run out of food.
What I’m talking about is, on the two unfortunate trips I’ve had to make to grocery stores since this madness began, I’ve enjoyed seeing what people buy when they don’t really think it’s the apocalypse, but it might be the apocalypse; and either way, it’s a bad time and we’re going to be home for a while, so they decided to stock up on their favorites. And I am nosy and love seeing what those favorites are. I stood in line behind a woman who had five cartons of Blue Bell rocky road ice cream in her cart. One guy I saw was planning to survive on frozen pizza and nothing else. There was a teenage girl with, like, seven cases of Dr. Pepper. And one older man literally had nothing in his cart but beer. (My guilty pleasure of choice? I bought a larger-than-normal amount of string cheese. It’s the little things, people.)Deleting my Instagram app for most of the day. You wouldn’t know it if you follow me, I’m sure — I over-post to Instagram stories, #sorrynotsorry — but I’ve gotten into the habit of just deleting the app from my phone except when I really need (“need”) it or for a check-in here and there. Especially during all this virus madness, I find I’ve been easily overwhelmed, and it’s really helpful for me to just limit my inputs. Try it sometime!
Speaking of Instagram, though; when you are on it, this account is very important.
I’m pretty sure I’ve shared this before, but pro skier Cody Townsend is working on an ambitious goal to ski all the lines from the 2010 book Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America. He’s dubbed this effort The Fifty Project and has been at it for over a year now, and I recently re-discovered his YouTube channel documenting each mountaineering experience so far. Go back to the beginning and watch all the videos — they’re well-worth it!
I can’t put a finger on exactly why this episode of The Dirtbag Diaries means so much to me — lots of reasons, I’m sure — but I bet I’ve listened to it 15+ times since the first time I heard it. It’s been extra comforting to me this week. Maybe just because it reminds me that it is never too late to change, or that change can be so good, or to not panic when my “life plan” shifts because plans are ever-evolving and so am I… I don’t know. I just like it, and maybe you will too.
I recently got my Wilderness First Aid certification! It’s one of those things I’ve thought and talked about for a while but finally took the plunge and did, and I’m so glad. It’s been confidence-building having that knowledge, especially as I continue climbing (both recreationally and working within the gym industry) and recreating outdoors. I also can’t speak highly enough of the NOLS course system and leaders. Now to get my First Responder one of these days…
That’s my 10 for now, though I’m considering keeping track of the books/articles/podcasts/movies/etc keeping me going through this whole coronavirus madness and sharing lists of those periodically, too. (Send your favorites my way!)
What are you loving lately?
