Ten.Four Hundred & Ten

1. It's the first day. 

2. There's no movement in the trees and the clouds are standing still. Some bird chatter. 

3. Bacon and hash browns and eggs for the ones who might want them. Hot coffee. 

4. Everyone is ready and there is still more than an hour left until school begins. I twiddle my thumbs. Decide to clean the kitchen and sweep the floor and watch the sprinkler. 

5. The three of them together. I forget how beautiful they are. And how big they are. And how soon, there will be no more first day of school pictures. Bitter and the sweet. 

6. I flip on a podcast and hop on the bike and go for a ride. The neighbor and I talk about the sweetness of freedom like this: a long walk to clear the head and make some space for ourselves again. I see the privilege and am grateful for it. 

7. Attention leads to gratitude. We don't pay enough attention.

8. Salad with a miso, soy, and ginger dressing. Miso soup. Wagyu beef and kimchi dumplings. Nigiri and Maki. A slice of scallop topped with pork belly. Chocolate molten cake with vanilla bean ice cream. Lioco rose of Carignan. 

9. I think about the way I've developed food memory over the last few years. A long time ago eating was for pleasure in the way that I loved how things tasted and I loved the feeling of fullness. Now, I eat to savor. I notice every texture. I think about the ingredients. I imagine the chef or cook up early in the morning prepping the ingredients for the day. I wonder about the origin of the ingredients. Eating becomes not only a sensory-filled pleasure, it also becomes an inquiry into the what and why and how.

10. They are back. We get home at 4:10. I do not like this later end time. I remind everyone that we'll be moving soon and so this won't even matter in a few months. Yes. We're moving soon. I am just so ready to go.