Category: waiting
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Summers at the Lake: Why We Talk About Leaving
It seems we ask about plans for leaving mid-bend and swing on the summer’s first cannonball off the wooden dock. We’re handing over the SPF30, Can you get my back?, and it has yet to soak in before we ask, And when are you leaving?, condensation barely pooling on our defrosting cans in the North…
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Lessons from a Lifeguard
I overheard the teenage girl lamenting her new lifeguard duties at a quiet pool. How is lifeguarding going? Are you loving it?, asked the neighbor, who seemed expectant of reports of contentment with youthful summer bliss. Surely, the girl’s bronzed skin and luscious locks had prepared for 16 years for a job of this Baywatch caliber. It’s…
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The Fear of Flying
Last night, I had two revelations: 1) I am out of Stress Relief tea, and 2) I can’t stop thinking about the young girl on the plane. She wore black chucks with low bright purple socks, hair in a high ponytail, glasses like the ones I wear before bed, and a shirt covered in…
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It takes time
On one end of my street, construction workers are knee-deep in building a multi-million dollar library. On the other end, a multi-million dollar fire station will soon have firefighters sliding down the poles they are staking in the ground. It is a mess. Literally. As I’ve walked by the construction zones on casual strolls…
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The school of home
Today, I am mad. I am mad because I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and I refused to make an effort to roll over to the right side and try again. I am mad because the coffee beans spilled out of the coffee maker and into the dirty sink when…
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If time could talk
On tonight’s agenda: family dinner. My brother’s long-time girlfriend will pick up pizzas from Anthony’s, one large brushchetta and one large pepperoni. He texted in the group family chat, Does this work for everyone?, as if the guy at Anthony’s doesn’t know our name and our order and my womanly status by heart, every…
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On battered & shattered expectations.
Honestly, I sometimes dream about making this blog less hygge. For those living under a rock, hygge is the Danish word for cozy and this funny obsession that many writers and shows have mocked as people have flocked to build a “hygge lifestyle” in an attempt to solve all of their world’s problems. The New Yorker piece called “Is…
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This is the year we will build a new smile.
I don’t like building. I learned this lesson when I helped build a new bathroom in my house. And by “helped” I mean I passed a few tools to my best friend’s dad who will one day reveal his hidden angel wings. He has held my old house together from day one. He loves…
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The old man reading the newspaper.
I met an old man in the bookstore the other day. (I use the word “met” very loosely.) When I looked up from my laptop on the table at the cafe, giving my reading eyes a break to glaze over the aisles of books and the rows of bookshelves that line up like heaven, that’s when…
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The art of inbox refreshing.
I am currently waiting on answers to approximately 18 prayers. I’ve been in these monumental moments of transition before, but this one just feels a lot like a root-canal election season when, for better or for worse, we know that eventually it must end and someone has to win. These 18 prayers fit into just about every…
Ashley Fenker 