Moore beekeeps.

COURTESY | Cameron Moore

Song: “I Ride an Old Paint/ Leavin’ Cheyenne” by Colter Wall (2020)

 

The song, like the whole album, revisits folk and cowboy tunes to praise Wall’s native Saskatchewan and the Great Plains in general. Growing up myself on the edge of the prairie in Kansas, I resonate with the landscape and characters that fill the album. Plus, the harmonica on this song is haunting. 

 

 Film:  “Brideshead Revisited” (1981)

Perhaps I’m cheating here by picking a miniseries, but this is the best 11 hours of TV I know of. It’s a slow, faithful, decadent adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s novel of the same title. It has Oxford, wealthy aristocrats, World War II, a young Jeremy Irons, and the grace of God relentlessly pursuing characters despite their furious efforts to evade Him. What’s not to love?

Book: “Manalive” by G.K. Chesterton (1912)

It’s the story of a man trying to remain wide awake to the miracle of his own life. It is uproariously funny and consistently convincing. I have read and taught “Manalive” countless times, and I’m still learning from it. For a novel, it’s relatively short and easy to read over a weekend. I highly recommend it; it can change your life.