- Silver linings.
- Working.
- The new ritual where my son says, “Running!” when he wants me to pick him up and run around the backyard like a madman.
- Lost Connections by Johann Hari.
- Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari.
- Social science, generally.
- Also epidemiology, which is to say, I think, endeavors where numbers and narrative(s) intersect.
- The Sound of Music soundtrack, as bedtime ritual with S–.
- Chrysalis vibes.
- Mixed nuts.
- Especially, though, cashews.
- Opening all the windows every day.
- Birdsong.
- Breezes.
- “War” by Darcie Dennigan.
- “Emergency” by Denis Johnson.
- Preparing popcorn and a beverage for J– as she sits down for her afternoon puzzle hour.
- J– watching Tiger King so I don’t have to.
- Fire Cider.
- Four neat columns of daily temperature readings — morning, nighttime; his, hers; numbers, narratives.
- My cheap new red tennis shoes. Comfy.
- Meatless meatballs.
- Meatballs with meat in them.
- Not videoconferencing.
- Peppery condiments.
- Yes, washing my hands, as a meditative act — one in which I think about how I care for my body and my family and my fellow humans but/and also I commune with (A) the obsessive-compulsive energy that drove my father to wash his hands incessantly in any event, and (B) the ways I misunderstood that impulse in him, the ways I knowingly and unknowingly judged him for it.
- The usual suspects. Which is to say:
- A good cup of strong coffee.
- A good book.
- A little stretch of silence.
TJ BEITELMAN 