The Morning: Spring returns

March 19, 2022

First, a news update: The U.N. estimates that one in five people in Ukraine has been internally displaced or has fled the country since Russia's invasion began. Find more details below and on The Times's website.

By Melissa Kirsch

Good morning. Here are some ideas for how to spend the first week of spring.

Kate Dehler

Go outside, if you can

Spring returns to the Northern Hemisphere this weekend. The season is an eternal metaphor for optimism, for hope and light and possibility, and even if the past few years have taught us to moderate our anticipation of seasonal renewal, this year's equinox feels notable. We're coming out of a long winter. Fingers crossed, eyes open, hopeful for sunnier days ahead.

Start in the garden. "The sense of positive anticipation we can feel in working with the natural growth force brings with it a sense of purpose and motivation," says Sue Stuart-Smith, the author of "The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature."

If it's nice enough, you could plan a picnic. Make some milk bread and take your lunch outside. Consider a happy hour, perhaps a kir al fresco, as you marvel at how it's 7 p.m. and the sun still hasn't set. If you're really ambitious, you could reschedule your Omicron-scuttled holiday party. Latkes are still delicious in March.

This week's books are pretty tempting: A collection of Elena Ferrante's lectures that the critic Molly Young calls "incandescent." "True Biz," Sara Novic's novel set at a school for the deaf. Or you could do as I have recently and take a walk or a drive while listening to an audiobook. (Patrick Radden Keefe's narration of his book "Empire of Pain" somehow makes 18 hours go by too quickly.)

If you're up for a movie, "The Lost City," a comedy starring Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum and Daniel Radcliffe, looks like a hoot. "Standing Up," the new Netflix series from the creator of "Call My Agent!," looks good, too.

Avoid doomscrolling. This photo essay featuring the opal capital of the world can help. So can spring cleaning for your brain. And the later sunsets may make it easier to get outside and, with any luck, out of your head this week. Enjoy it. And email me and let me know how it goes.

For more

"Nothing gold can stay," wrote Robert Frost. "Wanna bet?" replied the Senate this week.
Spring breakers "have no notion they are re-enacting an ancient ritual, the spring orgy of Dionysus." Read MacDonald Harris on the vernal equinox, from 1987.
From Opinion: "What to Do With Spring's Wild Joy in a Burning World."

THE WEEK IN CULTURE

The cinematographer Ari Wegner.Chantal Anderson for The New York Times

"The Power of the Dog" won best film at the BAFTAs. Its director of photography could make Oscar history.
The director Jane Campion apologized to Venus and Serena Williams after saying they "don't play against the guys, like I have to."
Campion's comment reminded the Times critic Wesley Morris of his own night of "botched fanciness" and racial slights.
The creator of "The Baby-Sitters Club" accused Netflix of canceling the show only after shifting its ratings expectations.
Anthony Veasna So's short-story collection about Cambodian Americans in California won the National Book Critics Circle Award for best debut.
"Is It Cake?" might seem like a pointless TikTok rip-off, but it's escapist fare, Stuart Heritage writes in The Guardian.
It's Elden Ring versus Wordle for best game of the year, as far as Slate is concerned.
Netflix is cracking down on sharing passwords as its subscriber growth wanes, The Verge reports.
After serving six days of a five-month sentence, the actor Jussie Smollett walked out of jail this week. Whether he must return won't be answered for a while.

THE LATEST NEWS

War in Ukraine

Smoke from a Russian missile strike that hit an aircraft repair plant in Ukraine.Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times

Russian forces expanded their geographic targets to try to weaken Ukraine's effective air defenses. They bombed a warplane repair plant in a relatively unscathed part of western Ukraine.
But overall, Russia "made minimal progress this week," British officials said.
Ukrainian troops frustrated Russian attempts to encircle Kyiv. Its suburbs are seeing some of the war's most intense fighting.
Kyiv would be Russia's biggest prize. Capturing it would require the largest urban battle in 80 years, analysts say.
President Biden warned China against sending Russia financial or military help.

REAL ESTATE

Susana Zeff and Dylan Beaumont in their second home in Margaretville, N.Y.Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Second homes: More people are keeping their rentals and buying a second home elsewhere. Here's what to expect about the costs and how to maintain them from afar.

Vacation homes: Should you rent yours out?

What you get for $475,000: a bungalow in Great Barrington, Mass.; a cottage in Washington, D.C.; or a ranch house in Little Rock, Ark.

The hunt: They wanted a Brooklyn townhouse. Which option did they choose? Play our game.

FOOD

Making pad Thai.Dennis Welsh for The New York Times

Pad Thai: Forget the wok when making it at home.

Vegetables, for spring: This cauliflower shawarma straddles the seasons.

The maestro: The restaurateur Domenico DeMarco was a link between the cooking of Southern Italy and New York's corner-slice pizza culture. He died at 85.

Ethics of eating: Take pleasure in meals, but take care to work for a world where everyone has enough to eat, Ligaya Mishan writes in T Magazine.

LIVING

The Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, Fla.Eve Edelheit for The New York Times

In Florida: Tampa offers surprises like excellent Turkish pizza and a Buddhist temple reached by boat.

Democratizing scent: A Los Angeles institute wants to make perfume knowledge available to everyone.

Ancient mythology: Is a nine-tailed fox demoness of legend loose in Japan?

Diagnosis: Psychiatry has come up with an answer for how long it should take to grieve.

GAME OF THE WEEKEND

St. Peter's upset Kentucky in the first round of the N.C.A.A. tournament.Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Murray State vs. St. Peter's, N.C.A.A. tournament: Murray State is on an incredible run, having won its last 21 games, the longest streak in the country. But the real story here is St. Peter's, the 15-seed from Jersey City, N.J., that toppled powerhouse Kentucky in the first round, one of the great upsets in tournament history. If St. Peter's can win again, it'll be a certified Cinderella. 7:45 Eastern tonight, CBS.

NOW TIME TO PLAY

The pangram from yesterday's Spelling Bee was autonomy. Here is today's puzzle — or you can play online.

Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week's headlines.

Here's today's Wordle. If you're in the mood to play more, find all our games here.

Before You Go …

Check out "A Century of Dining Out: The American Story in Menus, 1841-1941," from the Grolier Club.
What happened to the typing teacher Mavis Beacon?
Here's a weather map, emoji-style.

Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa

Claire Moses, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Tom Wright-Piersanti, Ashley Wu and Sanam Yar contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at themorning@nytimes.com.