Footnotes to a Conversation, September 13, 2021
The Perfect Playground
What makes the perfect playground? For starters, it should be fun for kids, parents, grandparents, and passersby. I love the description of an elderly woman who would “detour through the playground every morning on her way to and fro, hopping from boulder to boulder on the rock border around the sand pit. I would do that (if I could be sure no one was watching!) [Popular Science]
Witches, Feminism, and Male Tears
Two women run Vins & Volailles, a French company selling natural wines and chickens. They’ve established a line-up of wines that is “provocative, and joy-inducing.” At an industry event, a man referred to them as feminist whores (putes féministes). They decided to reappropriate that insult and do something fun with it. The result is a selection of militant wines: “Vins & Volailles works with winemakers and illustrators to create wines that carry powerful messages thanks to their colourful, impactful labels and thought-provoking names. Besides Putes Féministes others include: Sorcières (Witches), Male Tears, and Dur à Queer (Hard Queer to Crack). Vins & Volailles doesn't make money off these wines. Instead, for each bottle sold the company donates 7% to a cause linked to the theme addressed by the respective wine. [Pellicle]
Digging in the Dirt
“Houseplants are a little like rabbits. They have a tendency to multiply really quickly.” That sounds like me! My 2 amaryllis have morphed into 11 and counting. All the same, I’d like to try out some of the ones in this article about rare plants that are easy to grow. [Modern Farmer]
Mindfulness
Watch a sunflower open in slow motion. [YouTube – 2 min.]
Don’t Mess with my Name!
Oh, horrors! Every proofreader’s (and author’s) nightmare.
Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
If you share my love of nature, I suggest you also read EcoFriendly Sask that I publish in collaboration with my brother, Andrew. Check out EcoFriendly Sask’s Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces (downloadable directly from the website).