Changing tides

Lighthouses, cat genes, and a goodbye for now

West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, Lubec, Maine

1. Starting off with a poem from Mary Oliver:

   poetryisnotaluxury

   

   A post shared by @poetryisnotaluxury

2. This past weekend, I took an impromptu trip up to my favorite lighthouse in Maine, West Quoddy Head in Lubec. (I have not been to all of Maine’s 65 lighthouses, so technically it’s my favorite so far, but I don’t expect this title to be supplanted.) West Quoddy Head is the easternmost lighthouse in the US — which is kind of funny, considering that just over a bridge to the east of Lubec is Canada’s Campobello Island, and Campobello also has a lighthouse. (And even that’s not the easternmost lighthouse in North America. For that, you have to go all the way out to Cape Spear Lighthouse by St. John’s in Newfoundland.)

3. In Aeon, “How pottering about in the garden creates a time warp” considers our fascination with gardens and how they restore us. (I especially enjoyed listening to the audio recording, read by Emma Powell.)

4. Research shows that people underestimate how much small acts of kindness matter to others.

5. “One More Things We Have in Common with Cats” discusses how cat genomes are organized much like human genomes (unlike mouse genomes), and explores feline gene sequencing’s potential for disease research in both cats and people.

6. Although it’s written for a business audience, “How to Tackle Your Toughest Decisions” in Harvard Business Review offers some universally useful questions for when you’re struggling with a decision. (When I’m really stuck, I’ve learned to choose the option that feels scarier or represents more of a change — a tactic at least half backed up by economists.)

7. I started Lost in the Forest about six months ago, not long after an emerald mine heir bought Twitter and wowed spectators with his already-legendary incompetence. I was looking for ways to hold on to the wild jumble of the weird, beautiful, and fascinating that twitter offered up. Since then I’ve shared twenty-six posts, and this will be the last one. I’ve loved writing these posts. I hope you’ve enjoyed spending time with them. There are new and different things I need to turn my time and attention towards at this point, so this is goodbye for now. If you’re open to staying subscribed, I’d love to use this list for occasional news, updates, and other things worth sharing in the future.

Thank you so much for reading these past six months. It means a lot to me. Take care,

Kate