As the cold settles in, we’re talking about the ways that we stay present, and the pleasures that we’re appreciating right now. Notebooks and paper planners are some of the tools that we’re using to keep steady and help us remember interesting tidbits, and in our ongoing relationship with softer ways to keep time, we’re using lights, music, and actual programs on the actual radio to give shape to our days. We wind up our winter appreciation by sharing several poems that sustain us, make us laugh, or send us further on our journeys of curiosity. Links to the many things we appreciate can be found below.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Libby app (library ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines)
• The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan
• Burnside Chai and Dark Forest teas from Jasmine Pearl Tea Company
• Black Canadian Maple tea from The Rare Tea Cellar
• Tiny Shop, The Refilleri, Eco the Flamingo (Zero Waste shops in Chicago)
• Candlelit Tales podcast (Irish Folk Storytelling)
• The Last Kingdom (Book series by Bernard Cornwell; TV series on Netflix)
• KMHD Portland’s Jazz Radio
• Commonplace Book
• Pazyryk Swan (Felt plush swan from Iron Age Siberia)

Poems read:

• “Hope and Love” by Jane Hirshfield
• “why people be mad at me sometimes” by Lucille Clifton
• “Advice From My Inner Punk Rock We Should All Take” by Jared Singer
• “When the Waves Come” by Maia
• “5 things at 40” by Ana Bozicevic
• “little prayer” by Danez Smith