Author: jamers

We head home tomorrow on the 4th. I don’t feel like celebrating our country right now.

I haven’t written about our car starting saga, but we’ve had a doozy of a time troubleshooting it. Two mechanics have basically shrugged and said they can’t do anything. We’ve goggled a million things and Pete and Tommy tried some things but the problem persisted. Today Pete got a new battery and fingers crossed it helps.

We also spent a little time in town, bought more cool shirts, had lunch, then relaxed. I did a bit of cleaning and organizing to hopefully make leaving easier tomorrow. I’m happy with how we packed and it feels pretty simple to combine it all again to get home. Packing has become a bit of an obsession for me. I found the subreddit /heronebag a couple years ago and spent a lot of time optimizing what I bring. I believe the forum was originally started to make air travel simpler (no bag fees, easier to move through crowded places)but I’ve found the element of simplifying overall feels great.

I finished marking up The Little Prince for book club. It was a fun experiment but not sure I’ll ever be comfortable writing in a book. I guess that’s why I mostly used post-it notes.

It’s funny how at a different time in life, we were out late most nights. Well I barely saw the night sky while we were here. I mostly went to bed at kiddo’s bedtime, so it wasn’t dark. The few times I woke up in the middle of the night, I was able to peek out the window at some stars. It’s always surprising how much more you can see without light pollution. So I’ll miss that, how quiet it is, and being surrounded by so much nature.

Today’s reading

Poem: A Word on Statistics by Wislawa Szymborska – from the book “44 Poems on Being With Each Other” that Pete pointed out at the book store

Essay: Inefficiency by Ross Gay

Short Story: Jewel of the Gulf of Mexico by Selena Gambrell Anderson

We took the highest chairlift and then hiked towards the top of the mountain. Kiddo stumbled a bit last year and had a bad memory of it but was brave and ventured past that point this year. Maybe next year we will get all the way to the peak. We hiked over an hour above 10,000 ft so we’re really proud of her. And us.

I found a book of essays about delight! So at least some of my reading will be positive for a while. And it’s a good reminder to look for the glimmers.

• seeing a mama deer and fawns on our mountain walk
• spontaneous bus ride down the mountain
• tiny painting in Coffee Lab
• rhyming with kiddo

I’m tired.

Today’s reading

Poem: History Lesson by Natasha Trethewey

Essay: My Birthday, Kinda by Ross Gay

Short Story: The Magic Bangle by Shastri Akella

July 1st means the June digital input challenge is over! The good thing is I have no desire to go back to cycling through random social media apps when I’m bored. Right now the reading three things per day is keeping me busy and it’s nice because I feel like I’m learning things and thinking more instead of mindlessly scrolling. When scrolling I also used to constantly lose my train of thought. For example I’d see a video that made me want to look up a book or something, but then I’d keep scrolling but have the feeling like I was about to do something but what was it? Haven’t had that lately and I’m going to attribute it to this new habit. It’s also possible it’s because we’re on vacation and out of our usual routines.

Today we went into town so kiddo could workout at CORE again with the family. Pete and I got to wander for the hour and hit the bookshop again. I had a lovely jasmine iced tea and we bought a few books. The rest of the day was mostly down time. Then we had pizza and watched the 2019 Cats movie which Mamie really likes.

Today’s reading

Poem: The Naming of Cats by T.S. Eliot – I did not realize his poems are what inspired the original musical

Essay: I read two today because after the first I got sucked into the second one about beans. Both essays fit well with my attempt to eat less meat. They’re from Best American Food Writing 2019.

• The Girls Who Fainted at the Sight of an Egg by Yemisi Arbisala
• Bean Freaks by Burkhard Bilger

Short Story: didn’t finish one

I drove in to Gunnison today for snacks and toothpaste and some alone time. I read a book about alone time a few years ago and I think of it every time I write that phrase. It’s mostly about solo travel and learning to appreciate little moments. It’s one of the few books I’ve rated 5 stars so it really made an impression on me. In the summary it says “being alone as a traveller–and even in one’s own city–is conducive to becoming acutely aware of the sensual details of the world–patterns, textures, colors, tastes, sounds–in ways that are difficult to do in the company of others.” So instead of zoning out on the drive, I tried to notice things, like how the song on the radio that kept repeating “enjoy this life it’s the only one you got” was followed by “Forever Young” by Rod Stewart. And then I started crying. Since having kiddo the words suddenly mean so much. I’ve heard that emotions are heightened at altitude. I believe it.

Today’s reading

Poem: Optimism by Cameron Awkward-Rich

Essay: A Kingdom from Dust by Mark Arak – didn’t finish. Depressing stuff about how rivers have been drained and redirected for agriculture in California

Short Story:The Great Interruption: The Story of A Famous Story of Old Port William and How It Ceased To Be Told (1935-1978)by Wendell Berry – not my cup of tea

We started the day by helping clean the gallery to get it ready for an open house. Town was massively crowded so when we were done we escaped back to Annie’s house.

After a quick cold brunch of croissants, ham, cheese, and eggs, most of us had some down time.

A few hours later (after Pete and Tommy worked hard to get the raft ready) we headed to the river! It was sunny and not too warm and kiddo was very excited about going over little rapids and getting splashed. At the end she found a heart shaped rock she gave to me. <3 In true kiddo fashion, she said “look! if you turn it upside down, it looks like a butt!”

Today’s reading- a few days ago I found a poem by Following paths and really liked it. The book it was in was listed as a funny hopeful romance that took place on a coast to coast hike in England. I read the preview and then couldn’t stop reading. It has been a while since a book had me so hooked. So I didn’t read a poem, essay, or short story today but finished You Are Here by David Nicholls in less than 24 hours. I’m entertained.

Every night I hear an animal noise outside in the yard and I’m so curious as to what it is. I might record it tonight. Also I haven’t been awake late enough to see the stars properly. Must fix that before we leave.

Today we spent most of the day in town. Kiddo and I played at the pirate park, then walked to the pet store, then to the gallery. Pete and I had a nice lunch at Ryce. A bit later we got some super fun ice cream flavors at Tin Cup. Mine had spice!

It was a super bright sunny 70 degree day. The UV index hit 10 so everything was baking in the sun. I have an app that shows daily art and today’s just felt like it fit. It’s Maynard Dixon’s Cloud World from 1925.

In the afternoon a walk with Jiffy turned memorable when she rolled in something very stinky. We did our best to hose her off outside the gallery but it was a bit chaotic.

We hung out outside while she dried off, and heard a party going on down the street. A bunch of people in costumes were on bikes blocking the street. It was the celebration at the end of the unofficial chainless race. Kiddo pointed out someone dressed like a slice of pizza, a chicken, someone with a huge top hat, purple hair, all of it a riot of colors. One bike had a stack of speakers on it and people were dancing and the vibe was fun.

Today’s reading

Poem:sorrows by Lucille Clifton

Essay: currently reading about Miami, or one girl from Alabama’s view of it

Short Story: The Era by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 2018

I almost forgot to write today. I’m glad Pete reminded me.

I read the poem just now and parts of it really resonated with my current mood. The quotes below ring true to me for art and parenting and just being human.

I could also have chosen kiddo’s interpretation of Smashmouth’s “All Star” which current goes something like “somebody once told me the world is macaroni, the world is going to fart fart, shape of an L on her forehead”

I had a moment of inspiration and asked her to draw “en plein air” with me this afternoon. I enjoyed scribbling away trying to add layers of mountains. She drew lupine, the basketball hoop, the water from the sprinkler, and the big metal yeti in the yard. Her skills are really coming along.

Tonight was trivia night and it felt good to know a few of the answers. Team Bear Party got second place. Woot.

Today’s reading

Poem – Adieu to Norman, Bon Jour to Joan and Jean-Paul by Frank OHara 1964

Essay – vampires in Serbia and beyond 2010

Short story – “humorous” slice of life from 1840