Yearly Collection

Five books, albums, and birds.

“The Magpie,” Claude Monet c. 1868, oil on canvas.

The year yawns and tucks herself away to sleep. As she pulls up her snowy covers, her farewell prompts reflection.

The formative nature of 2022 cannot be understated. Elements of my vocation, sense of self, and spiritual enrichment look vastly different. Meanwhile what I have consumed in academia, literature, music, and the natural world have spurred on this trajectory.

Here is a small taste of the five books, albums, and birds I have savored across the span of this truly peculiar year.

Books

1. Culture Care by Makoto Fujimura.

2. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway.

3. Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves.

4. Leavings by Wendell Berry.

5. On Beauty and Being Just by Elaine Scarry.

Albums

1. “Life According To Raechel” by Madison Cunningham.

2. “Struggle Pretty” by Penny and Sparrow.

3. “Loose Future” by Courtney Marie Andrews.

4. “LP3” by Hippo Campus.

5. “Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night” by the Bleachers.

Birds

1. Northern Mockingbird (watched in Canyonlands National Park, Utah).

2. European Starling (watched in Indianapolis, Indiana).

3. Great Blue Heron (watched in Battletown, Kentucky).

4. Clark’s Nutcracker (watched in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado).

5. Steller’s Jay (watched in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah).

A nod to the lovely Emma Yeager over at Give Me a Word for the idea!

Warmly in Christ,

Emma