Today’s happy accident:
So we moved into our house in Durham back in November, and one of the very first things we discovered upon moving in was that the previous owners didn’t exactly “clear out.” They left behind a lot of stuff: some great (a fancy bamboo bath mat, an antique bench on the front porch), some not-so-great (sticky Lego-esque doorknobs on the closets, a rusted bike that vines had securely attached to the fence in the backyard). On the “hmm” list was a little metal bucket in the mudroom, next to the washing machine and dryer. I started using it for lint-collecting, etc. Another “hmm” item was among the cleaning supplies conveniently left for our use under the kitchen sink: a roll of green trash bags. Except they were tiny. Oh well, we thought.
I tell you that to tell you this: We’ve tried to start composting (GO EARTH!) as much of our food scraps as possible, thanks to a handy-dandy, fenced-off compost pile that we ALSO discovered in the backyard. And today, while staring off into space, savoring my morning coffee, I thought about how we needed a better way to store our compost scraps during the day so we don’t have to trudge out to the pile every time we have a scrap to get rid of. I googled “how to store compost indoors.” And reader, guess what Google showed me?
This is the exact metal bucket that was sitting in the mudroom. And guess what I also realized? Those green “trash bags” under the sink are compostable. They’re so small because they’re meant to go in a bucket like this.
Thank you, previous owners of our little home, for suddenly making our Composting Journey so much easier.
Word I’m thinking about:
“Spam.” It’s a food (although how many of us have actually tried it?), it’s unwanted email (hopefully unlike what you’re getting from me!), it’s a noun and a verb (“Have you tried Spam?”; “I don’t want to spam you!!!”).
On the bookshelf/side table/Kindle:
I read this masterpiece back in the fall, but I’m now in a book group started by my friend Megan and I cannot wait to unpack all the craziness of white evangelicalism!
I’m about 50 pages away from being done with this one: a memoir about Nayeri’s childhood in Iran, then a refugee camp in Italy, then in Edmond, Oklahoma. It’s imaginative, playful, heart-wrenching.
Oh my goodness. This book. I had a very difficult time putting it down. It’s a deep dive into the (very true) story of the Galvin family, who had 12 (!!!) children--but that’s just the first part of the premise. Six of those 12 children were ultimately diagnosed with schizophrenia. The Galvins’ DNA and lived experiences became a huge step forward for research into the disease, and Robert Kolker does a fabulous job of narrating the family’s painful stories as well as breaking down the scientific stuff for non-science-y readers (like me).
Tell me:
Have you tried Spam? (I’m still thinking about this)