My Summer Rhythm

Every Sunday, I publish a little list of things that I’m working on, learning about, or playing with. I’ve categorized my shares under Nourishment, Movement, Inspiration, Rhythm, Replenishment, and Introspection. Below with links, are some of the things that have been inspiring me this week. I hope they bring a little bit of light to you today.

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It’s definitely salad season. We can’t bring the lettuce in fast enough. I harvest a few heads, soak the leaves in ice water and then pay dry. I store it wrapped in a layer of paper towel (a dry, clean dishcloth would work well too) in an extra large opened ziplock bag and use over a few days. We have some kind of ‘big salad’ every day at lunch:

• Add a big handful of leaves to a bowl

• Add protein: canned tuna or mackeral, leftover chicken or steak or grilled tofu

• Add extra veg: tomato, cucumber, pickled onion, slices or radish

• Make a dressing: take the extra time to grate fresh garlic into it, use your best olive oil, add mayo or sour cream, vinegar and fresh herbs from the garden

• Make croutons: we always have a few sourdough ends to spare. I chop them up and toast them in the oven with olive oil and salt

• Add a few seeds or nuts for extra flavour and crunch

I’m in a show up and go gentle season. My philosophy is simple: keep exercising 2-3 times a week. Make the sessions short, simple and focused on maintenance instead of PBs. Walk, swim and garden the rest of the time. I tend to push in the Autumn and Winter when the weather doesn’t allow as much outdoor NEAT.

I’ve been listening to podcasts while I’m canning strawberries and rhubarb in the kitchen. A new podcast I love is called Turning to the Mystics. So far I’ve learned about Thomas Merton and Thérèse of Lisieux. The July edition of As the Season Turns just dropped. It’s one of my favourites too.

Summer rhythms are slow and juicy. Most days go something like this:

• wake up, prayer, coffee and an hour or more to myself before any of the kids wake up

• breakfast and exercise, morning chores, an hour or so of gardening,

• cooking or errands or driving the kids here & there,

• easy light lunches, iced coffee or green tea

• later than usual dinners with homemade ice cream for dessert

• laundry folding and a quick house reset

• a cool shower, bed and a chapter of my book or a couple episodes of a comfort show

  Replenishment

We just got through a serious heat wave. If you’re experiencing intense seasonal heat right now, try having a cool shower before bed. Climbing into bed with clean feet and cool, wet hair is so soothing on those very hot days.

I published this piece this week which is as introspective as I get. If you haven’t read it yet, here it is:

Six Months In

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Jul 2

A few months ago I wrote about leaning into the tradition I inherited, about the tension I’ve long felt between reverence and responsibility, and why I finally felt called to stop circling Christianity from the outside and actually step into it. You can read that here:

Have a wonderful week.

Meagan.

PS. I’ve committed to showing up on Instagram for the month of July to see how it feels. If you like following along there be sure to engage so your algorithm points you in the right direction.