Dear Sunday Letter friends,
Today I bring you a Sunday Letter: Rainy Day Edition. Here in Northwest Arkansas, we went from bone dry March to flash flood April. There doesn’t seem to be a balance to anything lately, especially when it comes to the weather.
But here we are. Rain for four straight days. (Maybe five; I’ve lost count.) And, as I write this, it’s 39° with a 70% chance of sleet. Booooooo!
When it’s cold and rainy and I can’t go out to play, I start to go a little stir-crazy after a while. Feel a little crazy too.
Here’s a peek at how I’ve been spending my time…
Working on Phenology
I’ve been obsessed with phenology since 2023 when I read an article about it and decided to start my own phenology practice. Now, three years in, and after consistently making daily notes about my phenological observations, I have three March wheels from which to draw comparisons and make highly non-scientific conclusions.
March 2023:
March 2024:
March 2025:
A couple of things I’ve noticed = we always seem to have a few warmer-than-normal false spring days during the first week of March; woodpeckers are most animated in March; I always think it’s too early for crocus to bloom yet it blooms pretty much the same time in earliest March. Ha.
Maybe my next book will be all about phenology. What do you think?
Ironing!
If I had to bet, I’d say ironing has become a task most people no longer worry with. But I actually enjoy ironing, especially on a rainy day. I like to grab a stack of shirts and pants, those I’ve not been wearing because they are so wrinkled, and I get to work on everything linen or 100% cotton. An audiobook or podcast makes the time fly.
When I was a kid, my sister and I had chores to do around the house and one of the weekly ones was ironing Daddy’s jeans and work shirts, and even his handkerchiefs. Ironing handkerchiefs was the best! It was quick and easy, and there was something satisfying about watching the wrinkles melt underneath the hot iron. (Getting his shirt sleeves just right was hard. And his jeans were heavy and hard to maneuver on the ironing board.)
Momma filled a glass Coke bottle with water and topped it with an aluminum & cork sprinkler thingy. Sprinkling water on dry jeans made the wrinkles easier to iron out.
via: Etsy – Grandma Judy Vintage
I wish I had Momma’s laundry sprinkler thingy. I’ve not seen it in decades, but I imagine it lives somewhere in the Bat Cave. Or maybe she got rid of it when she stopped ironing.
Reading!
During a long swath of rainy days, I average a book every couple of days. In the past three days I’ve read the following great books:
Note: I am in awe of local Arkansas artist and author, Sean Fitzgibbon. His graphic book, What Follows is True: Crescent Hotel, is a real work of art. Read my entire review on Goodreads and purchase your own copy HERE.
Lincoln in the Bardo is unlike any other book I’ve read and is probably not for everyone. You can purchase it everywhere, because it’s George Saunders (i.e. widely distributed).
What are you reading (besides this awesome blog post 😉)?
Write a Letter
There are a couple of people I regularly write letters to and one is a reader in Memphis I met several years ago. I suppose we are bookish penpals because we mostly write about the books we are reading.
When did you write a letter last?
Bake Cookies
Rainy days and baking go together, but I’ll be the first to admit this was not my best attempt.
I found a half-empty package of off-brand sugar cookies in the bottom drawer of my refrigerator, and these are those. Edible but honestly, not worth the calories.
I spiffed up John’s with some mini chocolate chips, but I don’t think it fooled him into thinking they were truly yummy.
Rest
There is nothing wrong with sneaking in an afternoon nap.
P.S. Annabelle and Gracie—the opposite of water dogs—are not amused.
Things Momma Says:
Cat food has gotten so expensive, and my cats don’t even like it!
***
Stay safe and dry everyone.
Even though we’ve had lots of rain—my rain gauge cracked so I can’t tell you how much—I realize how lucky we are. There are many people across the state (and surrounding states) who are experiencing flash flooding just after being hit with tornadoes.
I witnessed flash flooding once while living in East Dallas. The water rose terrifyingly quick. In the time it took us to eat lunch at Cafe Brazil in Deep Ellum, the roads flooded. We abandoned our car and walked two blocks to our house in thigh-high water.
Just imagine water to the rooftop!
My heart goes out to those suffering the wrath of spring weather.
Seriously, we better get abundant May flowers after all this April rain!
🙏
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
Mom and both grandmothers used the little aluminum cork thingy as well! I wondered if they still made them. Thank you for the memory.
🥰
Thanks, Diane!
I learned to iron on Daddy’s handkerchiefs and then pillowcases (before moving on to clothes) and we had one of those sprinkler things too. I don’t mind ironing if it’s necessary. Love your phenology and I’m very intrigued by it. I would definitely read your book on phenology if you wrote it!
Thank you so much!
My grandma would sprinkle the clothes and then roll them up and put them in the refrigerator before ironing, whenever. She sprinkled them with her fingers that she dipped in water and then flicked it onto the clothes. Grandpa said he will never understand women. They wash the clothes and they dry the clothes and then wet the clothes. Of course in those days the laundry was hung outside to dry. Mom had a bottle with the cork thingy too. I kept a spray bottle with water on the ironing board back in my ironing days. Now I just use a little hand steamer occasionally.
It certainly was a weekly chore and took up lots of time!
My mother did the same as Coleen’s grandmother. There were 4 girls in our family, so there was always ironing to be done.
I can still see mom sitting in front of a low ironing board with a large laundry basket full of sprinkled clothes. Her favorite time to iron was during the “Perry Mason” TV show. She couldn’t allow herself to watch TV unless she was accomplishing a task. Thanks for the memory..
That’s great, Barbara. Thanks for sharing!
I still love to iron too! Always have. Yesterday it was rainy and too chilly for me so I ironed everything I could find while watching gardening videos on YouTube. Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. 🙂
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one!
I do not like to iron at all, but have chosen to mock the whole project by name it my semiannual ironing Festival in spite of the fact that it is actually a monthly event. I make it stupidly set the whole thing up as though I may find some way to amuse myself. Sometimes I watch a favorite movie or play my favorite music. Sorry, but it seldom helps because it is still boring.
Oh, ABOUT BOOK READING. I have been going back to reread some historical biographical books. One was about Jim. Bridget who explored our country as a fur trapper. The other was about Robert E Lee. I live just outside the city limits of Richmond.
I love how you make a festival of ironing even though it is boring. LOL. Thanks for your reading recommendations!
Have you read the Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King? An entertaining take on Sherlock Holmes with a wife, if you like mysteries. (And who doesn’t?) My current read is The Secret Lives of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd – reminds me of Gracie Lee. Recent favorites: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell and Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard.
The Secret Lives of Bees is one of my top favorites! I loved the movie version too. Hamnet was wonderful—Maggie O’Farrell is a fantastic writer. I’ve not read the Mary Russell series or Finding the Mother Tree. Will check them out though!
Ironing was one of Saturday morning jobs. I had to iron before I could go downtown with my girlfriends. I ironed yesterday, too!
I’m tired of rain, too. We had some strong thunderstorms that got my attention. Poor Max is terrified of lightning & thunder so he spent most of his time hunkered down in the hall bathroom.
The storms have been so bad with some really close lightning! Poor Max. He was in his safe place I guess.
Ironing was one of Saturday morning jobs. I had to iron before I could go downtown with my girlfriends. I ironed yesterday, too!
I’m tired of rain, too. We had some strong thunderstorms that got my attention. Poor Max is terrified of lightning & thunder so he spent most of his time hunkered down in the hall bathroom.