Like many of us, I’ve been chipping away at some household projects lately, though not the ones I’d imagined. The closets are still a mess and there are still some dust bunnies under the beds, but last week I stepped on a small paving stone and realized that an entire walkway had disappeared under fringes of crabgrass and thyme and moss.

I tried pulling at the weeds, which was completely useless. I tried using a set of garden shears, which was exhausting. Finally, I remembered that we had an old-fashioned hoe in the garage, and voila! Leverage! The magic of a simple machine!

It is a helpless-feeling time in so many ways, and words like “unprecedented” and “impossible” and “uncertain” are at the top of our current vocabulary lists.  But the paths are there, just under the surface.

We might still be hacking away, but we also have the right tools, if we pause to remember them.

Dear ones, let’s start clearing the way.

***

This week we are delighted to share our summer book list, just in time for this last stretch before Labor Day. It’s an extra joy to include our own Month of Sundays in this issue, offered in support of worthwhile organizations like the Omega Institute, the Equal Justice Initiative, and the Biomimicry Institute (links to other booksellers are here).

Friends, it might be harder to travel on vacation this year, but with a good book we can always get away.

SUMMER BOOK LIST 2020