Each week (give or take one or two here and there) I share three things I like – It could be a book, a movie, a podcast, an album, a photo, an article, a restaurant, a food item, a beverage, or anything else I simply enjoy and think you might too. You can find a whole pile of things, especially books, I like and recommend HERE.
1. Splitting Wood
I spend the majority of my working hours and energy using my mind, living in ideas and communication, and investing in relationships. All of which are wonderful, but can be exhausting in their own rights. Despite being so exhausting, they also leave me jittery and unsettled because the exhaustion is all internal and the work is never complete. So I need simple, focused physical outlets, and splitting wood is one I have loved since high school. I am not really outdoorsy. I am not particularly rugged. But it so cathartic to split a pile of logs into fire pit sized pieces and stack them neatly in their rack. I love the physical and mental release. I love being able to see the fruits of my labors. I love that the job can be finished. Really the only downside is that I only need to do this a few times a year to meet our fire wood needs.
2. Waffle House
Let me begin by stating that I resent–yea, abhor–ironic odes to Waffle House. Insult it. Make jokes about it. But do not falsify claims of adoration. Waffle House might have the most integrity of any restaurant chain in the country: it is exactly what it sets out to be, without fail. I have never been disappointed in Waffle House because I know exactly what they offer and they deliver precisely what is promised. I love that Waffle Houses thrive in the sticks, in the hood, in the burbs, in tourist hubs, and next door to run down motor inns. I love that in any Waffle house you will see people who are headed to work, coming off a bender, students at the local high school, and taking their kids out for a breakfast date. You might see firefighters coming off shift, cops coming on shift, and the felon they are about to look for. I love that nearly every waitress at Waffle House is of indeterminate age but has earned the right to call you “honey.” And to top it off, crispy hash browns smothered, chunked, and diced are delicious.
3. The Lone Bellow
I ran across The Lone Bellow sometime around the release of their first album in 2013. I immediately loved their sound–the harmonies, the bluesy undertones, the power, the soul, and all wrapped up in a sort of Americana package. Since then I have seen them in concert five or six times in venues ranging from a local neighborhood festival to the Schermerhorn performing with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. And they are always phenomenal.
