Friends, hello from Australia…and hi, new people! It’s Catherine (from The 10 Minute Fix book) writing to you, as promised.

It’s September 11 overseas and the 12th here in Australia, and I know the world still shares remembrances of this date. In honour of so much loss, I wanted to share three lighthearted, beautiful things amidst that memory of sorrow.

This is how I roll: when the world hands me hard, I pour back in something—anything—good.

These are tiny things, but small things also matter.

Fun #1: backyard bouquet

Today I wanted to pause a second and bring you into my kitchen. I cut some clivia from the back garden and they’re hollering Hello, Orange! on the table. Wherever you are, whatever the season, anything will do. Branches, leaves, even a few beautiful stones can look so pretty. Summer’s coming in Australia—actually feels like we’ve swooped right past spring and summer has been with us this weekend.

Fun #2: a fresh take on an old favourite

I learned the best way to cut watermelon sticks. I served them for dessert last night after a barbecue, and one of my sons said, 'Hey, it looks like a cake!’ Yes, it does, but it’s healthier and easier, too. Plus FUN.

Fun #3: poetry

When I was an English teacher in my twenties at a beautiful private school in Victoria, British Columbia, I loved poetry with my whole heart…and I tried to show my students that it’s available to everyone.

It doesn’t have to be too tricky or tough. It can be as easy to understand as a cake recipe. It can. Not always, of course, but choose what you love. Meander until you find a poet who speaks to you.

Today, here’s Mary Oliver’s “Watering The Stones” for you. Do you know it? Am I the first friend to give it to you? The thought that I might be the giver of this poem to you for the first time fills my English-teacher heart with adrenaline.

You’ll love this one.

Watering The Stones

Every summer I gather a few stones from
the beach and keep them in a glass bowl.
Now and again I cover them with water,
and they drink. There’s no question about
this; I put tinfoil over the bowl, tightly,
yet the water disappears. This doesn’t
mean we ever have a conversation, or that
they have the kind of feelings we do, yet
it might mean something. Whatever the
stones are, they don’t lie in the water
and do nothing.

Some of my friends refuse to believe it
happens, even though they’ve seen it. But
a few others-I’ve seen them walking down
the beach holding a few stones, and they
look at them rather more closely now.
Once in a while, I swear, I’ve even heard
one or two of them saying “Hello.”
Which, I think, does no harm to anyone or
anything, does it?

- Mary Oliver
From Blue Horses, 2014

Enjoy every second of this weekend if you can. I hope you and yours are okay, despite lockdown and any sorrow. American friends, the world still remembers your loss. We do.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• My favourite Mary Oliver poem is here.

• My favourite writer’s pencils are here. These pencils are so dear to my heart (and I know, expensive per pencil, but I love them). I’d rather have these than takeaway coffee.

• I’ve shared them before but I’ll say it again: my favourite exercise shorts / bike shorts are here, but I wish I’d ordered a size down. Still, love them so much. I have the buttery soft blue colour. They’re nice and long, so if you go out walking this summer, you might like them, too.

• If you’re new and wondering what’s in those frames behind my kitchen table, it’s my favourite four stanzas from Wallace Steven’s “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” You read about that in my book, too…xo