Here’s the assignment:
Revisit your preoccupations from a couple of weeks ago. Which are still going strong? Which have dropped off? Pick one (either kind — one that still has its grip on you or one that’s lost it) and make a new list. What things — specific things: nouns, verbs — do you associate with it?
Here were my preoccupations from a couple of weeks ago:
Music. As renewal + return. Fatherhood. Guardianship, standing guard, vigilant — and somehow still letting go. Giving over. Marriage. Vocation. Anthony Bourdain. Misfit pilgrim. Americana. John Prine. Jason Isbell. Also Little Richard. Folk art. Norma McCorvey (aka Jane Roe). Masks. Mayhem. Sleep cycles. Toddler beds. Counting. A rhythm of books. Backyards. Kiddie pools, raised-bed gardens, fencing. Making Things. Not producing them. Phases. All kinds. Prayers. All kinds.
Here’s where I stand today:
Music. As renewal + return. Fatherhood. Guardianship, standing guard, vigilant — and somehow still letting go. Giving over. Marriage. Vocation. Anthony Bourdain. Misfit pilgrim. Americana. John Prine. Jason Isbell. Also Little Richard. Folk art. Norma McCorvey (aka Jane Roe). Masks. Mayhem. Sleep cycles. Toddler beds. Counting. A rhythm of books. Backyards. Kiddie pools, raised-bed gardens, fencing. Making Things. Not producing them. Phases. All kinds. Prayers. All kinds.
Here’s my refashioned list:
“A rhythm of books.” —
.. Known by Salt by Tina Mozelle Braziel
.. Grand Union by Zadie Smith
.. What Am I Feeling? by Christi Straub and Josh Straub
.. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
.. I Can Read with My Eyes Shut (ibid)
.. Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
.. God: A Biography by Jack Miles
.. Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion
.. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
.. My First Mandarin Words with Gordon & Li Li by Michele Wong McSween
