Ten.One Thousand, Four Hundred & Eighty-Seven

1. Every time I start to wake I feel the headache return. I turn off the alarm and close my eyes.

2. Grateful for the coolness of the air creeping in through the window.

3. Two coyotes. Remember to look that up.

4. I open the door and stare at her and then smile. And then laugh. Right. It’s Thursday.

5. I apologize for not being able to say the words. “I’m sorry, I have a headache. I can’t quite think,” I say. But one of us or both of us manage to get the words out.

6. The drive is long, but it goes quickly. I like it over on this side. The sky is still low, the air is still cool.

7. No one is wearing their mask in here, but I thought it was a mandate?

8. More and more my online life is becoming my real life and it’s mostly a really beautiful thing.

9. She’s just real and I like that.

10. I walk outside barefoot to get his water bottle and then remember that she said she saw rattlesnakes a few days ago and I realize that being barefoot outside is a really bad idea this time of year.