Six months ago I posted about growth and hope and anticipation.
This is my first post since.
I was so optimistic then.
My squash plant was growing.
I could almost taste the fried squash feast.
But…
Despite lots of pretty yellow blossoms, there was never squash.
Not one.
Because I look for symbolism everywhere, I found some here.
Two types!
Symbolism 1: COVID
(Because, let’s face it, we have not escaped it yet.)
Months ago we were able to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Those of us who were vaccinated were able to gather again!
Joy!!
The promise of overcoming the pandemic.
Blossoms of hope!
But…
Not everyone who could get vaccinated got vaccinated.
So, variants developed.
Hospitals remain busy.
Funeral homes remain in demand.
And here at the end of the year, we are back to worrying about new variants, breakthrough infections and the possibility of accidently infecting others even when we are super careful.
Sigh.
Symbolism 2: Beauty > Productivity
Those squash blossoms were so beautiful.
When I looked out in the morning to see them covered with dew and picking up the sunlight, they made me happy.
Our society values “productivity” over everything, but “producing” is not the only way we contribute to the world.
We can bring happiness and joy just by “being” in the world.
Hope!
So…
On this last day of 2021, I remember the blossoms and I cut myself a break.
I didn’t write a blog post for six months.
But I hopefully contributed something to the world even so.
As has become my custom, I will end the year by sharing the list of books I read over the past twelve months.
They brought me knowledge, perspective, joy, laughter, and tears.
Sarah’s 2021 Reading List:
The Giver of Stars (audiobook), Jojo Moyes
Finished 1-16-21
Jesus and the Disinherited, Howard Thurman
Finished 1-24-21
A Man Called Ove (audiobook), Fredrik Backman
Finished 1-31-21
The Girl Who Wrote in Silk, Kelli Estes
Finished 2-8-21
Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World, Henri J. M. Nouwen
Finished 2-27-21
Golem Girl, Riva Lehrer
Finished 2-28-21
S is For Silence (audiobook), Sue Grafton
Finished 3-3-21
Death in Mud Lick, Eric Eyre
Finished 3-14-21
The Starless Sea (audiobook), Erin Morgenstern
Finished 3-23-21
The Night Diary (audiobook), Veera Hiranandani
Finished 4-4-21
Angel of Greenwood, Randi Pink
Finished 4-20-21
T is for Trespass (audiobook), Sue Grafton
Finished 4-24-21
U is for Undertow (audiobook), Sue Grafton
Finished 5-5-21
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent, Isabel Wilkerson
Finished 5-16-21
Salt Houses, Hala Alyan
Finished 5-23-21
V is for Vengeance (audiobook), Sue Grafton
Finished 5-24-21
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katherine May
Finished 5-30-21
The Bell, Iris Murdoch
Finished 6-6-21
Summer Sisters, Judy Blume
Finished 6-8-21
Black Milk: On Writing, Motherhood, and the Harem Within, Elif Shafak
Finished 6-12-21
Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro
Finished 6-14-21
With the Fire on High (audiobook), Elizabeth Acevedo
Finished 6-16-21
Let’s Talk About Hard Things, Anna Sale
Finished 6-17-21
Giving Up Whiteness: One Man’s Journey, Jeff James
Finished 6-20-21
The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches From the Border, Francisco Cantu
Finished 6-5-21
Anxious People (audiobook), Fredrik Backman
Finished 6-5-21
Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains (audiobook), Cassie Chambers
Finished 7-19-21
The Night Watchman (audiobook), Louise Erdrich
Finished 8-5-21
The Other Black Girl (audiobook), Zakiya Dalila Harris
Finished 8-13-21
Dusk Night Dawn: On Revival and Courage, Anne Lamott
Finished 8-14-21
Inside Out & Back Again (audiobook), Thanhha Lai
Finished 8-17-21
Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.
Finished 8-29-21
My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry (audiobook), Fredrik Backman
Finished 8-31-21
Today We Go Home, Kelli Estes
Finished 9-5-21
The Dutch House (audiobook), Ann Patchett
Finished 9-15-21
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
Finished 9-19-21
The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
Finished 9-25-21
W is for Wasted (audiobook), Sue Grafton
Finished 10-7-21
A Single Shard, Linda Sue Park
Finished 10-9-21
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Finished 10-29-21
The Madness of Crowds (audiobook), Louise Penny
Finished 11-6-21
Cloud Cuckoo Land (audiobook), Anthony Doerr
Finished 11-23-21
Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could (audiobook), Adam Schiff
Finished 12-13-21
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, Deesha Philyaw
Finished 12-16-21
Piranesi, Susanna Clarke
Finished 12-26-21
How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America, Clint Smith
Finished 12-28-21
