A gentle close to the week
And six little things that made life better / Issue 1,376
Oh, hi friends!
On Monday morning, I headed for a run in the park.
I was sleepy. It was cold.
But about two minutes in, I saw a giant bird swooping above the trees.
It had a bright-white tail and stark white head.
I thought to myself:
That’s an eagle!
It flew low and then out of sight.
A pigeon flapped frantically in the opposite direction.
That definitely wasn’t a red-tailed hawk.
Way too big to be a kestrel.
Only eagles have those white heads…
I texted Colin, and he checked Twitter (that’s where all the bird people post their sightings).
No one had said anything.
I kept running.
And started doubting.
Maybe it wasn’t an eagle…
Someone else would have seen him already…
I still finished my run in a bouncy and happy mood, of course. Because something had happened. Something always happens when you go outside.
A few hours later, Twitter lit up.
Rover the bald eagle was spotted in Central Park.
So what’s the takeaway?
Trust your eyes.
Trust your instincts.
And stay open to surprises.
6 Things That Made Life Better This Week
Where have I been? The Dogist has over six million Instagram followers, but I wasn’t one of them until this week! He interviews dogs (or, dog owners, I guess) and takes glorious portraits. The sweetest.
New favorite non-alcoholic beer: Guinness Zero tastes exactly like “regular” Guinness, at least according to my unsophisticated palate. So good.
And so it appears this column is all about showcasing how behind I am. Dark on Netflix is one of the best, mind-bending mysteries I’ve ever seen. Yes, there’s time travel. Yes, it’s in German. Yes, it will break your brain. In a good way.
Congratulations, Fort Worth Zoo, on being home to Korbel the baby giraffe, the goofiest and sweetest creature born so far in 2024. (h/t Colin, of course)
Excellent advice for all things: “Tolerate chaos” and other rules from Richard Diebenkorn on beginning a painting. (thanks Robby Macdonald for this one)
Tina Fey on returning to Mean Girls:
What’s the appeal of going back to this material again versus doing something different?
“I have other things that I’d like to do. But I have so much gratitude that this movie seemed to stick with people. When I look at it, I am reminded of how hard I worked on it in the first place. I feel like the bricks and mortar of it were the absolute best possible job I was capable of at the time. It’s not perfect, but it holds water.”
“The absolute best possible job I was capable of at the time.”
Who can ask for anything more?
And In Case You Missed Them
Monday’s note: Start your week backwards
Tuesday’s note: The most satisfying use of your time
Wednesday’s note: Stay in the bubble
Thursday’s note: Antidote to passivity
What made your life a little bit better this week? I’d love to hear about it!
Ok only saying this because i happen to be dating a birder and this is a daily topic of conversation. but in case you hadn’t heard of it the rare bird alerts from eBird are also pretty top notch for landing sightings like this. Although you managed to do it without anyway!
https://ebird.org/alerts
I had also never heard of The Dogist, until just now! What a delight! A friend sent me this “squirrels of the world” post- definitely a fun little bright spot for me: https://www.instagram.com/p/C2Xsu1eqYA6/?igsh=MXAzMTdnOXVlN3kzNg==