There’s a store where we grocery shop that on a clear day with no traffic and all green lights, it takes ten minutes to get there.
On other days, it takes about 15 minutes. I made that number up, because while it hasn’t taken ten minutes since the one time it did, I refuse to do any real research about how long it actually does take — anything more than ten minutes will be a disappointment.
Since it’s centrally located in an area with a number of other places we go to sort of regularly, I always have that ten minute drive in my head whenever I’m headed that way, as a sort of measuring stick for planning when I’ll need to leave to get to a counseling appointment, how long to give myself for a trip to the craft store, or figuring out a trip to that place that has a bull’s eye on my wallet.
So, remember when I expressed fear that my recent visits to the naturopath would result in me having to give up every food I love?
Over the course of the past year, participating in book clubs at my local library, one of the things that came up was video conferencing etiquette around pronouns. One of the moderators asked us to state our gender pronouns at the beginning of the call. I went with it that first time, but I felt really uncomfortable about it.
Any week, I could begin to tell you how I’m doing by saying I’ve been striving, and each week it would be no less true than the one before.
Today, many times, my eighteen year old son flew past the house on his motorized scooter wearing slides and no helmet, doing wheelies in the rain. I debated internally whether to call out to him to put a helmet on, and maybe proper shoes. He is of age, and he knows how I feel about safety.
I didn’t say anything.
The past several years, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has been slamming me to the mat pretty hard.
Why mention that when we are closing in on the longest day of the year? Maybe it’s that the days’ scandalous length are a constant reminder of the contrast come winter. Having a doomsday attitude about life helps me prepare for the rougher bits, and part of that is Summer Laura making gifts for Winter Laura.
