Changing Seasons – May 2025

May, where did the time go? Looking back through my photos, I had a bit of trouble finding snaps that reflected the month. The general feeling and memory of May being alive and wonderful, cool winds and sunshine, flowers blooming and the world turning green. Is May the best month after all?

Things I saw

Back in Korea, I always associate May with roses. There are some rose trellises in my neighborhood where people like to take photos, and it’s fun to spot pops of red, pink, white and orange peeking out over walls and in gardens around the city. Here where I’m visiting in the US, the irises caught my eye this month.

These mushrooms scattered across the grass were also a fun discovery. The first day I spotted them, the caps were taller and rounder (pic on the left). The next day, they had flattened out more. I didn’t get to confirm the species, but I think they might have been false parasol mushrooms. Next time I see mushrooms, I’d like to inspect them more closely and get a proper identification.

Things I made

I didn’t cook as much this month, but did experiment with a few veggie bowls. I saw online there was a “viral, 4-ingredient bowl” composed of cottage cheese, roasted sweet potatoes, ground beef with taco seasoning, avocado and drizzled with hot honey. I bought very unripe avocados and waited patiently every day for them to ripen. Well, turns out I wasn’t patient enough because I cut into one waaaay too early, then had to search for what to do with a cut, unripe avocado. Surprisingly, just fitting back together, wrapping it in saran wrap, and leaving it out until ripe did work. Long story short, I never did actually get to make the bowl exactly, but I did make a variation with lettuce instead of avocado.

Also made some breakfast biscuits a few mornings instead of buying them at McDonalds. This is a biscuit-from the tube, turkey sausage, one egg and pepper jack cheese combo, and it was very delicious if I say so myself. I was actually inspired to make them after seeing Kitchenable’s shorts on Youtube: Chef vs. Drive-Thru.

A burrito bowl another day, and then on Memorial Day weekend we brought out the fire pit and roasted some marshmallows over the coals. You will notice my s’mores base is not a graham cracker, it’s a triscuit. Gasp! Blasphemy! But I gotta say, the saltiness of the triscuit balanced the super sweetness of the marshmallow and chocolate nicely.

What I read and saw

I read across fairly diverse genres this month. A few graphic memoirs (Persepolis, The Best We Could Do), some self-help (Good Work, Clear Thinking), historical romance (One Burning Heart, The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin) and sci fi/fantasy (All Systems Red, Iron Widow). I finally picked up All Systems Red since the Murderbot series is airing on Apple TV. Unfortunately, while I gave the book 5 stars, I haven’t actually finished the first episode. Which might just be me, in general I’ve found I have lost the attention span for TV and movies. The exception being the series Miss Austen on PBS Masterpiece. I’m so glad I caught this four-episode series. It was so well done. But be prepared for some tears at the end!

Finally, apparently my blog passed 50,000 all-time views this month. Even though this space has often gone neglected over the years, I’m glad to have this corner of the Internet to record my life and connect with others.

Wishing you all a wonderful June ahead.

This post was written as part of the Changing Seasons challenge. You can visit Ju-Lyn’s post to see how other creatives around the world have spent their month.