It’s that time again. Here are a few things that provided a good escape this past week:

1.  Adventure movies with dubious plot lines. Geostorm (2017, science fiction disaster) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019, fantasy adventure comedy) made it onto the radar this week. Both play fast and loose with reality in a nonthreatening way. They made me completely forget about what was going on in the real world. An added bonus, Jumanji: The Next Level takes a kid’s book which I found terrifying and makes it into a feel-good movie about personal growth with a side of angry rhinos.

2. Audio books. This week, it was Shine, by Lauren Myracle. The narrator has a great reading voice (you would think you could take this for granted with audiobooks, but no), and takes the listener to the rural South for an emotional who-done-it story that peels back the layers of identity and what we think we know about ourselves and the people we love. It reminded me of my rural upbringing, The Serpent King, and Rex Ogle, in a bittersweet kind of way.

3. Mirror Dancing. My big girls have their own Pandora station, a synthy dance/pop blend with some Caribbean/raggae infusion. Dance parties regularly break out in the living room. Get warmed up, then turn to face a buddy and try to mirror their dance moves. You can take turns or just let one person take the lead. It’s good exercise, a recipe for laughter, or both.

4. Gardening. This week was my first time out this spring just to dig in the dirt – I ended up working outside on two different days and it felt great. There’s a reason humans like to play in the dirt; it’s good for the soul. I know there’s a good chance the weeds I pulled up will be back before I have a chance to get in there again, but with gardening the experience itself is more important than the results.

5. Me Made May. I’m planning a chill month compared to last year, but May has motivated me to start on a couple of new sewing projects. Both are slow sewing efforts with a lot of handwork, so it will be a while before I have anything to show for myself, but it feels good to be creative again. I’m planning to post daily #memademay2020 #ootd on @redherringcostuming this year, unless I start to hate it, at which point I’ll stop.

What’s keeping your spirits up these days?