Knock, Knock, Who's There?
FAT TOMATO SUMMER, 2.0
The time has come to experience our favorite 2-year tradition!
Fat Tomato Summer! In which we relentlessly (yet casually) locate abundance on this scorched earth. We don’t create the abundance. We simply receive it. We honor it. And maybe, as we do, we find ourselves emotionally hyperventilating less.
What exactly is Fat Tomato Summer? Excellent question.
I sat down and gave myself one hour to explain, but 39 minutes in, I deleted the entire thing. I had accidentally written the first third of a heady essay detailing the complexities of my Memorial Day weekend…
The cheesecake I baked which called to mind a 90’s heavy metal band and possibly manifested deep inner turmoil.
A Memorial Day parade in which MAGA flags and a children’s Bible program marched a mere twenty paces apart, both comfortably at home.
Sitting in my childhood bedroom, reading the horrific news breaking in Rafah.
A fun day spent tossing bean bags with my family and eating like royalty where no one whispered as much as a controversial syllable, not even me, except for the time at the end when I couldn’t hold it in any longer and said, “Peace is a Christian concept,” and everyone rolled their eyes.
Alas, Fat Tomato Summer is not about the complicated, metaphorical essay. It’s weirder than that. Messier. Think cereal-for-dinner vibes. Sweatier. Sweeter? (Lord, hear our prayer.)
As you might recall, FTS 1.01 took place during what ended up being one of the most devastating seasons of my life. I realized quickly that there was no option for ignoring the hard stuff happening around (and to) me. But! Good things kept happening, too. They were tiny. They were hidden. But they were there, popping up against the darkness like fireflies.
An abundant life means we get it all.
Driving home late Wednesday night, we got ten skies in one. Storm clouds from the passenger window, golden hour from the driver’s side. I cruised back-roads and felt my squirrely guts settle. I finally had the space and time to name what swirled inside me and notice how my body was responding. I validated the truth and I swear, it set me free.
This morning, the official kick-off to my person FTS, I sat on my back patio in my PJs and read this,
“There’s not a special blessing that Jesus gives to the merciful, except to say that the ones who give mercy also receive it. A cycle that begins with truth finding, naming the really real of our beloved goodness, in all our frailty, all our failure.”
FTS is about hope and abundance, but maybe it’s also about giving and receiving mercy - even (especially?) to/from ourselves? Keeping the faith when we thought it was gone? I can’t wait to find out.
For the next 8-ish weeks, this space will be devoted to locating ordinary abundance wherever we happen to find it. We know it’s not going to be idyllic. Tragedy will strike. Boredom will win many, many days. We will kick at the covers and wake up sweaty, calculating the hours until we can try the whole sleep thing again. Calvin Lee Martin has already reported from his personal Situation Room2 that 2024 is expected to be a banner Summer for tomato hornworms. Thanks, Cal!
We will face the weird whatever together. (I am begging you to crack your knuckles now and prepare to share! Better together and all that jazz…)-
If you are worn out, Fat Tomato Summer is for you.
If your heart is broken, Fat Tomato Summer is for you.
If you need to name your pain, Fat Tomato Summer is for you.
If you believe in the divine mercy of one moment of peace amid the chaos, FTS is for you!
I’ll be sending back-patio dispatches at least weekly. (Maybe more!) They’ll be short and punchy - naming the really real in all of its sun-burned glory. Think must-haves, vibes, easy recipes, tomfoolery, best-ofs, and seasonal nonsense. What more could we want from June and July?
I’ll continue to offer one free post per month. But if you want every juicy bite of Fat Tomato Summer, you’ll need to be a paid subscriber!
(Last week I impulse-bought a *smallish* bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and was stunned to discover they cost $6.29 + tax. A monthly subscription to this newsletter will set you back only $5/month and won’t give you Dorito breath!3)
Yes, the world feels wobbly and anxious. Yes, we are coming to grips with the fact that it’s probably going to stay this way. Yes, we have political anxiety and yes, we care deeply. Yes, we are stubborn fools who still believe in dreaming up something better. Yes, we are weary. Yes, our inner narratives have grown more cynical over time. Yes, this teetering planet still balances on the axis of miracle. Yes, there’s something to laugh at every single terrible day.4 We buy the lipstick anyway. We obsess over one song for eight days running. We drive with the windows down. We take naps. We nerd out. We eat heavy metal cheesecake for breakfast. We fangirl the sky.
We bear witness and we live.5
LYLAS,
Shannan
The kitchen, where he spends a great deal of his time.
Your financial support of my work and time means the world to me! As always I offer free scholarships to anyone who asks. Just reply to this email and I’ll get you taken care of. (If you want to help cover the cost of a scholarship, you can do that, too!) I love you all, frfr.
This phrase borrowed from a recent Drew Jackson poem.
I said I wasn’t going to plant vegetables, and yet AND YET I planted greens, and the dang things have already bolted and it’s a freaking slugfest in the garden. Bring on Fat Tomato Summer! 🍅🐌
I am here and all in for FTS!! Yes, please. To begin, I picked my first zinnias yesterday grown from seeds from last year where I piled the dead stalks. We will have a patch of flowers here in this unusual place. Also, I think we need FTS t-shirts. Just sayin' :)