Greening my thumbs; Build your own truck; Trump and Zelenskyy do the Vatican

3 Things this week and a poem

We went to a nursery (the plant and flower kind) but left mid-visit because the wind and cold were so strong, it killed the mood.

Today looks more promising. The sun is shining. Things should be planted in the ground.

Thanks for spending part of your weekend with Things I Wrote Down. Here are three things that stood out this week on the web and a poem.

Greening my thumbs

This is gonna be the year. Petra and I decided we have to make our backyard reflect our aesthetic. We've been doing that inside (with a recent kitchen renovation), so it's time to start small outdoors. We bought the home we’re in two years ago in July, so this will be our third summer. It takes time to really get to know a place.

We stocked up on gardening books at the library for some inspo. Looks like we’ll be heavy on the hydrangeas, roses, and peonies. We’re going to aim for some potted sections as well where we’ll let lavender and various grasses and wildflowers shine.

I downloaded Planta, the plant app, as well, with hopes it’ll help with placements, ensuring we plant the right things in the right spots for sun and shade. (I have a pretty good idea, but I’m interested to see what an app used by over 7 million people can do to help us up our gardening game).

Build your own truck

Did you see the announcement for the pick up truck that’s coming to market soon from Slate Auto? It got me, and the internet, pretty excited. It’s a low-budget electric vehicle that you can personalize. And it’s time something like this came to market.

The video on X got over 6M views.

It’s a great advertisement. I liked Lulu Cheng Meservey’s take on why the ad hits (she tends to have pretty sizzly hot takes):

I buy my vehicles used and cheap. It’s somewhat a source of pride, but a vehicle like this makes my fantasy of one day driving a vehicle that has that new smell and is mine closer to a reality.

Trump and Zelenskyy do the Vatican

No matter what you think of President Trump, he sure knows how to create a photo opportunity.

This weekend Pope Francis was laid to rest at the Vatican, and the world gathered to remember him. But the funeral was overshadowed, at least in the Western news, by the American president’s presence and his impromptu meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

After the meeting, in a social post, Trump indicated that the parties are close to a deal, which would be a positive step forward for the world and save thousands more from dying.

Pope Francis publicly called for the end of the war and all other armed conflicts whenever he could, referrring the the Ukranian people as martyrs in February. What a legacy he would leave if peace terms emerge from his state funeral.

A poem

Green thumbs and gardens feature prominently in this week’s link round up. So I’m digging up this poem called Seed.

I hope it blesses you.

---

Seed

you saw a 
world inside
the seed
saw the 
first triumphant
root break
free of 
the shell
coil and 
stretch
its way
toward the 
ancient instinct
for light
could say just
how it would
grope and
pull its way
through soil
generations and
lifetimes
lying in their
resting place
imagined the
breach of earth
saw it unfurl 
its aching body
and stare
directly
at the sun
before you 
rolled it between
your fingers
and planted it in 
the ground
named it
flower



© Andrew Kooman