postcard from the beach

Hello from sunny (sometimes) Florida! We’re at the end of a Vandiver family vacation to the beach. Less than a month ago, my mom texted the Vandivers + Boys group chat and said, “Anybody up for a birthday/Mother's Day trip to Santa Rosa Beach?” and most of us made it work. On Friday and today, for her birthday and Mother’s Day, we celebrated my wonderful mom. (You can read my Mother’s Day newsletter from last year here.)

Many of our days were rainy, but today was a perfect beach day — from about 11 a.m. to 6:30, I left the sand only to use the bathroom by the parking lot or venture out into seaweed-infested waters. A vacation reading report: I didn’t read as much as I could have this trip — too many Vandivers to talk to — but I did read the excellent fantasy novel The Once and Future Queen by Paula Lafferty, and I’m about halfway through a reread of a reporting masterpiece called Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott, which I hope to teach from this fall.

My Instagram feed was filled with commencement celebrations this week (is it time for another degree?) and I had three stories published this week about University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment graduates. I hope you’ll give them a read:

• 'The greatest wealth’: 2026 graduate celebrates community at the University of Kentucky

• University of Kentucky student who founded The Thrifty Cat will continue sustainability efforts after graduation

• 'A lifelong learner’: University of Kentucky 2026 graduate shares agriculture education with the next generation

We have an oft-repeated saying in my family that stems from a long-ago story: “Don’t get sad — just go back to the beach!” I’m sad to be leaving the beach, but going back to Kentucky is pretty great, too.