Good Things

Last week Dean went to Backyard Medicine Camp, taught by his preschool teacher who also happens to be an herbalist. Each day after camp he would come home smelling so good, talking about calendula & catmint, plus countless other herbs he had harvested, not to mention the currants and blueberries he plucked out of her backyard. By the end of the week he had made and brought home a Ginger Decoction, Healing Herbal Salve, and Rosebud-Horehound-Lemongrass Syrup (good for colds, coughs, & fevers), plus baggies with dried herbs for a calming tea and calendula along with a recipe for a calendula tincture.

Gianna was also at a camp, which meant I was back in the world of packing lunches and snacks. Isn't it funny that while Gianna isn't an adventurous eater, Dean is, and yet he doesn't usually like the handful of things that she likes, aside from candy. Homemade hummus & carrots for her, cream cheese & red peppers for him. No sandwiches for her, peanut butter & jam for him. Pita pizzas for her, quinoa salad for him.

I once saw a comic illustration depicting the front page of a newspaper that was called something like "Happy News Times" and the headline read "8000 planes landed just fine today!" I believe there was another headline that just said "Kittens!" I feel like something like this needs to exist for real, especially now with our current government highlighting the worst in people daily, and being the worst in general. There's a wonderful children's book called Good People Everywhere that is a great counterbalance. It simply lists off the good things people are doing everyday in their daily lives and at the end asks what good thing is the reader going to do today. My kids weren't touched by it, which shows me that they are happily oblivious and don't need the reminder, which is great. Another feel-good thing I've recently discovered is a segment on the new podcast "It's Been A Minute with Sam Sanders." The Friday episode concludes with a handful of people listing off the best thing that happened to them that week. I love it!