Monday Miscellany: Marveling at the seasonal light displays

Notes from December 22 - 28

Dec 29, 2025

Greetings from I-40, where I’ll be spending the majority of my day! We’ve been in Memphis visiting Jordan’s family since Friday, and unfortunately we didn’t end up doing much because of the cursed stomach bug that’s been going around. But I woke up this morning feeling revitalized and rested and ready to party, so at least I’m in good spirits for the journey home. I have a travel mug of tea and 23% battery on my iPad. Let’s do this.

Read this week

We recently started watching Ted Lasso, and then I read Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger for The Stacks book club, so basically I’M A SPORTS GIRLIE NOW. Also, because I read a digital copy from the library, I didn’t realize how long this book was when I started it! Out here accidentally participating in doorstop December.

But yes, high school football. Texas. Communities united by a shared rival. Racism. Economic inequality. Physical injury thwarting youthful potential.

Bissinger lived in Odessa for a year to learn about, get to know, and report on the 1988 Permian High School Panthers, and here are the thoughts I’m left with after mulling over his account for a bit:

The injuries these boys played through and the way they were treated when they expressed the pain they were feeling were shocking. Certain scenes had me physically squirming in my seat.
- Are conditions different for high school players today, almost thirty years later? I sure hope so.
- Regardless, I’m glad I don’t have a son whose dream is to be a football star.
I played varsity volleyball and made it to state semifinals my senior year, but I’m so grateful that those days were not my peak. It feels deeply sad to imagine young people SO focused on one extremely niche and temporary dream that they don’t receive the support and education and skills necessary for a full life after their athletic days are over.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy, meanwhile, is climate fiction about the Salt family, who live on a remote island and tend to the research facility and seed vault located there. A mysterious element comes into play when a woman, Rowan, washes up on shore, horribly injured but alive, and over the course of the story we figure out who she is and why she has come. Chapters alternate between her point of view and that of various members of the family, and some of these are more effective than others. Much of the suspense relies on characters intentionally holding back information, which doesn’t work as well in first person as it might have in close third—if we’re inside a person’s head hearing what they’re thinking, it doesn’t make sense for those thoughts to be strategically censored.

That nitpick aside, I enjoyed this one. The tone is somehow both bleak and hopeful, there are lots of interesting plant and animal facts, and the relationship that develops between Rowan and the Salts1 is really quite beautiful. McConaghy is an expert at creating atmosphere—I felt cold and vaguely damp the whole time I was reading, which seems correct.

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Watched this week

When Harry Met Sally (1989) popped into my head recently because the pivotal last scene takes place on New Year’s Eve, but watching it right now also felt correct because of Rob Reiner’s recent passing. I don’t have any fresh takes beyond “what a good movie, you guys,” but I did learn something new about it from Reiner’s obituary. He met his second wife, Michele, while working on the film and AS A RESULT OF THEIR LOVE he changed the ending, from Harry and Sally splitting up to the two reconciling and staying together. Stop it, Rob. Too sweet.

I’ve seen Happiest Season (2020) a few times now and it continues to grow on me with each rewatch. Originally I think I was a little “meh” on the coming-out of it all (must queer stories always be about this?) but ultimately the cast fully won me over. I’d follow Kristen Stewart and Dan Levy anywhere, but add Aubrey Plaza and Alison Brie to the mix too? Unstoppable. My other favorite thing about this one is the weird sister character, Jane, and the way she stands up for herself in the end. Justice for Jane.

What is there to say about The Family Stone (2005) that hasn’t already been said by much more eloquent people? Honestly not much. If I had to choose one holiday movie to watch every year it would be this one. I come from a very small family but the Stones always make me wish I had a bigger one, made of people who know each other completely and might sometimes be assholes but underneath are accepting and full of love and ready to protect their own at all costs. This article is a sweet read and articulates a lot of what makes this such a beautiful film that so many people return to annually.

I’m new to The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) as an adult—Jordan grew up watching it and he introduced me several years ago. It has quickly become a must, often on Christmas Eve before he and I open our stockings. The songs are so good. The absolute gravitas Michael Caine brings to the Ebenezer Scrooge role is so good. And something about little Kermit Bob Crachit standing in the street alone singing “after all, there’s only one more sleep ‘til Christmas Day” never fails to bring a wee tear to mine eye.

Haiku round-up

Haiku is a poetic form that originated in Japan, containing seventeen syllables in a five-seven-five pattern. At the beginning of 2024, I started writing one every day, and while traditional examples include thematic reference to the seasons, mine tend to be a bit more all over the place. Here are this week’s efforts—enjoy!