Friday Five: July 25, 2025

Happy Friday ☺ As we head into another weekend, I'm feeling particularly appreciative of the small moments. It's been a busy week, but I am grateful for the busy-ness, it can be healing to have purpose and plans to look forward to. Here are five things that caught my attention this week:

1. I decided to enter some photos in my hometown county fair photography contest this year, and the process of selecting and printing them brought back so many memories of my mom. She used to enter photos and baked goods every summer, and I remember walking through the exhibit halls with her, studying each entry as seriously as if we were at a museum. I love these county fair competitions, the way people share their homespun passions without pretense, just for the fun of it.

   

   One of the photos I entered in the photo contest.

2. Our little garden is having a great year. The tomato plants are growing tall, herbs have been coming in since March, flowers blooming in waves. But mysteriously, no raspberries this season. Last year, tons of berries. I cut back some old branches in May, and the ones that have grown in this season look healthy, but they're empty. Gardening teaches you that some years give you abundance and others withhold their gifts for reasons you may not understand.
   

3. Dad texted the family group chat this week with sad news: four of his chickens were taken by some mysterious predator after a whole year of peaceful coexistence. We aren't sure what kind of creature it was yet. Evidence was found in the form of feathers near the cornfield at the perimeter of the farm. The remaining hens are on high alert now. The two farm dogs normally deter any potential threats, but for some reason this one eluded them.
   

4. I keep catching myself wanting to slow time down, to linger in late July a little longer. This particular part of the summer feels too precious to rush past; the long, warm evenings make the days feel both endless and fleeting. August always arrives with its back-to-school energy and autumn whispers, but right now I want to stay suspended in this lazy, hazy time when the world feels most alive and I feel most myself.

5. Last night we went to see Odd Mob at the Skyway Theater. The show was packed, it got moved from the smaller Loft venue upstairs to the main theater. It's not my personal favorite venue, but the energy was incredible. The show was fun, but the best part of the evening was taking a walk after dinner. The Stone Arch Bridge re-opened this week after being closed for over a year for renovations. The Mississippi River flowing beneath us, the lights of the Minneapolis skyline glowing against the summer sky, couples and groups of friends scattered along the walkway all taking in the view. It was so romantic and reminded me that the unplanned moments between planned activities often end up being the most special.

Sometimes the most ordinary things are the most worth remembering. These are the threads that weave together into the fabric of a life well-lived, the details that years from now will bring us right back to this exact moment in late July when everything felt possible. See you next Friday.