The Savour Stack - volume 4
10 things that made me pause, ponder, and peruse
Welcome to the fourth volume of The Savour Stack.
A thoughtful collection of 10 “things” that made me pause, ponder, and peruse. Whether for one delicious moment or as a current ongoing wonderment. Things, thoughts, books, ideas, tastes, observations, music, etc… that prompted me to slow my roll so I could lovingly savour them.
Let yourself be inspired, delighted, amused, or, at the very least, briefly entertained by the thought of them.
Tulips! - Although I’ve been acquainted with tulips practically my entire life, I, admittedly, used to find them sort of dull compared to other flowers (and yes, I am judging myself for judging something as pure as flowers!). Lately though, I’ve been completely enamored by them. Or rather, the idea of filling a garden with them since I do not currently live in a climate where they thrive. Call it a gardening fantasy. A daydream about all the bulbs I plan to plant at my next home. Regardless, tulips truly are swoon-worthy flowers. The ruffles! The stripes! The shadows! The inky-black stamens! And of course, the evolution of them transforming from a pristine bud to an “undone” cascade of flower parts. I am here for all of it.
Fancy knobs - In particular, this fish doorknob shared by Natalie Stiles (pic below), stopped me mid-scroll and initiated a mid-morning wonderment about how lovely fancy knobs are. While they do serve a function, having your doorknob be fancy is pretty unnecessary. But something changes in you when you enter one room to another. Doors are portals between spaces and worlds (the inside and the outside). Why not have a doorknob that accentuates the reality that lies on the other side? Or that punctuates the process of entering through the portal? Or simply for a touch of joy & whimsy? The argument for fancy knobs is a compelling one that I stand for.
The second swim - One of the perks of living in S. Florida is being able to swim most months out of the year. While your first swim of the day is refreshing, there is something even more tantalizing about the second swim. The daily, first swim is invigorating and revitalizing. You feel a sense of accomplishment after. Ready to continue on to the next phase of your day. The second swim is luxurious. It is un-promised and unexpected. The weather, the timing of the day, the light in the sky…everything aligns in such a way that you cannot resist going for a second dip. You want to linger longer. The second swim becomes a form of ablution. To have water remind you that you are alive not once, but twice in one day, does something different to the body.
“House of Woodcock” by Jonny Greenwood — I love discovering movies through their music first. This is not the first time I have discovered a song I loved, played it daily for a bit, then later on realized it was composed as part of the soundtrack for a movie. The song in this instance, “House of Woodcock”, was composed for the movie Phantom Thread, and the way the song makes you feel when you listen to it (the feeling of being swept up in the experience of being human, in love, and in awe of all that is beautiful before you), is married with the movie in perfect measure. The composer, Jonny Greenwood, turns out to also be the lead guitarist/keyboardist/jack-of-all-trades for Radiohead (whose music has long been striking similar heart chords of mine as the Phantom Thread soundtrack does). We love a full circle moment.
(1) the (now) infamous fish knob shared by Natalie Stiles; (2) the feeling of the second swim captured by Alexandros Giannakakis; (3) still from Phantom Thread; (4) Sarah Wes Kemetic Yoga with Sarah Wes - These days, I frequent YouTube for my at-home yoga practice. I recently stumbled across Sarah Wes’ channel and was introduced to Kemetic Yoga for the first time. I immediately resonated with the slow but powerful sequences, her visually captivating yet peaceful video landscapes (practicing among the dunes, albeit through my iPad, is now a new favorite), and simply experiencing a new form of yoga I’ve never felt move through my body. Her videos have been a refreshing and much-needed reset for my yoga practice. Thank you Sarah.
Becoming a clog girl — It’s official: I’m a clog girl. I’m not sure anyone in my immediate world understands the appeal of clogs. I’m not sure I completely do either… They are sort of unpractical and clunky. But for some reason I feel a newfound sense of joy when I’m able to “clog around” the block in them. In a world where everything feels increasingly flashy, I am here for the humble clog.
Elsa Peretti’s World — Some days the Substack algorithm takes me through the most wonderful wormholes into the lives + thoughts of different creatives. On one such day, I discovered and read “Elsa Peretti’s World” on Jessica Menda’s Substack and was so captivated, I took my research to Google for some time after. I have always been vaguely aware of Elsa Peretti, as an iconic jewelry designer and model, however I had no idea what to expect when I encountered the design & artistry of her home spaces. In a world of white washed walls and soft, warm textures filling many homes (naturally people tend to want their homes to look clean and comfortable), it feels both captivating and somewhat puzzling to imagine living in her chic, cave-esque domicile.
The Overstory, by Richard Powers - This was a book that felt like nine books woven into one - but in the best way possible. With a connected, overarching “overstory” of how trees and the environment connect us in more ways than we often realize, The Overstory truly was masterfully written (after all, it did win the Pulitzer for a reason). I am not sure if this was Richard’s intention, but I ended up reading this book in a very similar way to how I would wander through the woods: I ambled through it slowly and purposefully, pausing to notice and pick up little interconnected threads as I went. And there were many. From start to finish.
(1) Dansko clog girl aesthetic; (2) Elsa Peretti's abode captured by Gregory Civera; (3) "The Overstory" captured by David Stewart; (4) still from Widow Clicquot Widow Clicquot movie — Based on the story of the Veuve Clicquot champagne legacy, this movie was as aesthetically pleasing as Veuve Clicquot bottles are to look at (and while I do not drink, I certainly enjoy keeping empty bottles around for cut stems and branches). I throughly loved it from beginning to end, and not just because I was imagining what it would be like to inherit a farm in the French countryside.
Post sunset evening lulls — Every evening, the chaos of the day is commanded to stop, in reverence for the sunset. And while the sunset is the lure to press pause and step outside for “just a moment” to watch the warm colors dissolve in the sky, the real magic comes in the lull during its aftermath. The aptly named “magic hour”, post-sunset is a time when the rest of the world can cease to exist. It’s a time when all that is needed of you is your presence. When you can witness real change happening in slow motion: the curtain of inky-night sky gradually pulled down over the day.
What have you been savouring lately? What odds & ends of life have been commanding your attention? Would love to hear in the comments below.
xx
Heather