Ten.Two Thousand, Two Hundred & Fourteen

1. This light.

2. The last avocado.

3. I don’t even need this coffee.

4. It’s already hot.

5. She stops and pulls a candle out of her pocket. “We’re not going to light it. We don’t want to be responsible for the great White-Sommer fire of 2024.”

6. Fried chicken and cornbread. They say it’s good, but Popeye’s is just as good and cheaper. “I’m not driving to Vallejo for fried chicken.”

7. Another convert?

8. “To achieve happiness, you must know yourself.”

9. “Don’t let me buy that fudge again.”

10. I tell her it feels like a magic number.

Ten.Two Thousand, Two Hundred & Thirteen

1. Not sure why I even bought pants. I never want to wear them.

2. Small cup of coffee.

3. “Freedom begins when you are unapologetically and simply you.”

4. I look through the stack of books and pick the thinnest one. Just a few pages before I must go.

5. This is the last time I will have to do this. Hopefully.

6. She says it’s been slow—scary slow. I can feel it. Plenty of cars passing through, but there are no people on the street. Everyone knows there is a problem. No one seems to be able to fix it.

7. Sometimes wisdom looks like knowing when to keep your mouth shut.

8. I still don’t know what I want.

9. Fever and Storm.

10. Just take me to the water.

Ten.Two Thousand, Two Hundred & Twelve

1. A Wednesday that feels like it should be Friday.

2. Bright sun.

3. The gladiolas are starting to dry out.

4. At least that is over with.

5. One by one they begin to cancel. I should just do all of this from home then.

6. Screw it. I’m bringing back the Oxford comma.

7. I tell her that I need until September to be in full-court shape. Note to self: get in full-court shape.

8. Sometimes you just need to know you’re not alone.

9. This lingering light is fooling me. I am staying up way past my bedtime.

10. The Finer Things Club.

Ten.Two Thousand, Two Hundred & Eleven

1. Did not expect the gray sky.

2. What is right and necessary?

3. The joy of realizing it’s wint-o-green and not peppermint.

4. Off and I can feel it. I’ll come around.

5. You can be glad that it’s over and sad that it happened.

6. It’s the uncertainty of it all.

7. I sit back in the chair and watch the ripples in the fountain. The music is loud. People playing corn hole. People playing soccer. Tug-o-War. Just enough cloud cover to diffuse the sun. A breeze.

8. But all I can see are the highlighted squares in that Figma spreadsheet.

9. Four is always the minimum and that makes four.

10. No words. No words. No words.

Ten.Two Thousand, Two Hundred & Ten

1. Too warm.

2. This feeling feels familiar.

3. More gladiola blooms bursting.

4. I forgot to water the plants again.

5. A cookie from Capri and Camarones Al Mojo De Ajo.

6. I guess I was wrong about that and many other things.

7. I don’t know where I stand yet.

8. A much-needed distraction.

9. He asks us about open gym. She says it looks like I missed it. She’s right. I forgot how much I enjoy being there. I just needed to laugh.

10. What else is there to say?