We’re voracious consumers of culture. And each week, a member of our team shares the words, images, and beers that inspired them.

From Robert de la Torre’s series, Microcosmos

READ.// “The poem needs to be an audacious outburst', a passage from the room into the mirror, from the garden into the season.” Spring feels like a portal that magically appears to whisk you away from winter—at least in Chicago. I find some of my most creative and tense times are in Spring, especially in that period where it remains delicate and a 35 degree days with flurries can suddenly re-appear. Transition periods get me reading, like this passage from The Centaur Tree by Ilare Veronca by Sublunary Editions, or writing, like this little poem about the early bluebells in my yard.

LOOK.// Since buying a house on a quarter acre lot that’s mostly original forest floor, I’ve been at once overwhelmed and inspired by the work ahead of me to fight back invasives and encourage the growth of native trees, flowers, and shrubs. But after my first year of toil, I’m starting to see new timelines developing—some of which may outlast me. To help connect a longterm vision with the thousands of trowel strikes and tugs at wintercreeper roots I’ll be making this spring, Hillary bought me a stunning tome of gardens from around the world called Dreamscapes: Inspiration and Beauty in Gardens Near and Far.

DRINK.// Cindi’s Hard Mountain Tea
Full of big herbaceous tea notes alongside a slightly sweet iced tea flavor, this new “steam brewed and fizz-free” concoction from Cinderlands in Pittsburgh has a shockingly quick refreshment and citrusy finish to it. The sound of it pouring into a big glass over ice unlocks a deep sense memory for Springtime.