I’M ONE of about 20 students in a sketching fundamentals class — we meet weekly on Zoom for ink & watercolor instruction and real-time practice. The class includes a shared workspace where we post our assignments and chat with each other and the teacher. Last week’s homework was to sketch a favorite meal. Even more than I love seeing how other people draw and paint, I loved seeing what people eat! One student drew an open-faced caprese sandwich and I could practically smell the basil. Another drew the fixings for her favorite cocktail. Another drew her homemade cinnamon rolls. These peeks at each others’ meals felt like little portals into each others’ kitchens; little invitations into each others’ lives. At the next class meeting, I noticed a change. The atmosphere in the “room” was warmer and more relaxed, and the strangers in their little Zoom squares felt more like classmates. I found myself wishing we could meet for a potluck. I SENT MY HOLIDAY LETTERS…YESTERDAYI dropped the ball on sending our annual holiday letters last year. After writing them out and gathering all the mailing supplies, I just…didn’t send them. January came and went. The letters sat in a pile on my desk. February arrived, and still those letters sat there, weighing on me. I finally told myself to let it go already, it’s too late and no one would miss them. And then I thought: wait a minute, what am I doing? Here’s this tiny opportunity to reach out and I’m tossing it in the recycle bin? Now, of all times, when trust is elusive, and every cultural alarm on the planet is going off? C’mon, man! Hop to it! Grab any thread of connection you’ve got and PULL. 🫡 I wrote a new letter that better spoke to the moment. I got them copied onto colored paper and set aside a few evenings to stuff and stamp envelopes. Rael slapped the labels on and yesterday, we put our ridiculously late holiday letters in the mail. Do I deserve applause? No. Will this change the course of history? Probably not. But we’ve opened up a hundred little portals. Those letters are a hundred little invitations into our lives. Perhaps these kinds of choices, made by each of us over and over again, matter more than anything. RECIPE: HOMEMADE MUESLIMuesli is basically uncooked granola. My version is a tweak on the recipe in Good Food, Great Medicine, one of the only diet/nutrition books I trust. You wouldn’t think rolled oats would taste good raw, but when mixed with everything else they do (this would be good as overnight oats, too). Feel free to skip the coconut or swap your favorite dried fruits and nuts.
Mix everything in a big bowl and store in a zipper bag or sealed container. 🗄️ RELATED READINGFrom the Home & Relationships archive:
🔗 NOTES OF NOTE
Let’s keep talking about favorite meals or holiday cards or portals or anything else this newsletter brought to mind. See you in the comments.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Our holiday letters are so late they're early
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Our holiday letters are so late they're early
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