If you want to: remind yourself of the connection between effort and reward
What you will need: a power washer
William A. Harper American, born Canada, ca. 1905
Welcome to tiny gardens. I start out with a little horticultural essay for you, and then get into what I’ve been reading and working on this month.
If you want to: remind yourself of the connection between effort and reward
What you will need: a power washer
Yesterday, I planned to write this newsletter about how I used power tools to reconnect the pathway in my brain between work and payoff. I rented a pressure washer from Home Depot to clean off the stage at my community garden and cleared my schedule. But because of many different logistical issues too boring to get into, I ended up with a power washer less powerful than a garden hose. The caked-on dirt on the wood failed to melt away like it had in my daydreams. I tried scrubbing one of the boards with a sponge, which worked well, but I did not have the willpower to manually clean the whole stage.
Acknowledging how disappointing this way makes me feel vulnerable. My instinct is to jump here to my new month’s goals, my gratitude list, the wonder and beauty of fireflies in my city park, a meditation on our culture of immediate gratification, a recognition of how lucky I am that my personal frustrations pose no immediate threat to my health or safety, or another essay on taking satisfaction in process (a theme of this newsletter). But I want to pause on the bitter experience of putting consistent effort into certain parts of life and feeling like I’m plateauing, or on a downward trajectory. I can’t annihilate these emotions with water pressure, unfortunately.
But still, if you have access to a power washer and a dusty item in the garden, give it a once-over for me.
Things I wrote in June
My last newsletter was in, um, February. Which means I have stuff to put in this section!
I’ve written two stories for the Popular Science digital magazine, one about growing plants in the dark and another about carnivorous plants in the U. S. Botanic Garden.
One of my favorite projects was this guide to soil testing for Wirecutter.
I wrote a piece about toilets for the New York Times kid’s section (only available in print).
My most aggressively researched story was about the tyranny of homeowners associations. Real estate law is a thorny, treacherous forest.
Things I liked in June
I dealt with some events in June that confined me to my couch. This British reality show was the perfect companion. Every episode, artists both professional and amateur compete to see who can best capture the image of a British celebrity. The reward is £10,000 and a chance to paint another British celebrity, like Tom Jones, for a national portrait gallery.
Butts: A Backstory by Helen Radke
Because of this book, I now know that there is only one woman in America whose jeans fit. I liked this book’s deep dives into history; I could have happily skipped the pop culture analysis at the end.
Inside the Secretive World of Penile Enlargement by Ava Kofman
This is one of the great nonfiction horror stories of our time, up there with The Itch by Atul Gawande and The Really Big One by Kathryn Schulz.
Laci Mosely brings us stories of scams from around the world. Moseley’s incredible charisma powers this podcast, which is a good postseason replacement for Normal Gossip. I don’t understand how Mosely has such solid rapport with nearly every guest who comes on the podcast. I’m familiar with most of the stories and the writing sometimes falls short, but the banter and tidbits of showbiz life make up for it. I last listened to the episode about Dan Mallory, the subject of one of my favorite magazine profiles ever.
Love everything about this newsletter, excited to read your latest work, and to aid you in your mission: my boyfriend power washed his deck and outside seating area and by the end was soaked. I’ll send a pic!!! Happy 4th!!!