in other news

 Seeking a friend for the end of the world is a good movie.

fingers crossed

 Today I am grateful for the smallness in the cab of a truck, music playing in the background, listening as a brain engages another and hoping till I come so close to knowing that this may be one of the greatest investments I've ever witnessed.

Right here in front of me.

the doing what you love thing

 

Today I am grateful for time and project and reason.

Curtis don't want a hug

Georgia glass

 

But I was going to get that hug and another hug and another and another. It was fine that Curtis didn't need a hug though I'm sure I would've given him one if he'd asked.

"Curtis," I addressed him by the name on his very nice shirt. "Let's just say it was your mama that needed a tire. Where would you tell her to go?"

"Two things," Curtis replied. "First, my mama is dead."

"Aw man, I'm sorry."      Yeah.

"Second. If she was alive, I'd tell her to go to hell."

"Aw hell, Curtis. Maybe a girlfriend, a wife?"       Back up. Back up. Back up.

"All of 'em, but let me go check something."

Today I am grateful for Curtis and the opportunity for the hugs his tire gave me. I am grateful for the kind people in Springville, AL, the police in Ballpark, GA, that lady playing the lottery who so kindly explained with distance and him and her and her and him. The breakfast, the dinner, the mountains, the front porch swing and the hugs. Georgia hugs are the best.

catching a sunset

 Its not as easy as he thought being that its over a mountain and happens there later than it happens at their place.

Today I am grateful for a jar of peanut butter and the problem of the perfect sunset picture.

the night someone mentions learning the Italian language

 "Read!" she commands.

Today I am grateful that he got the tailgate fixed, a book, a phone call, a movie about a fish kid named Luca, some laughs and long overdue plans for the weekend.

during the monsoon on the first day of summer 2021

The tailgate handle won't work because that rod fell down inside and he'll have to take off eight screws to get to it so he can fix it. No worries. The air conditioner is fine there, I tell him.

Today I am grateful to hear his voice and for his help with the porch.

when the toads and the crickets and the air thickens

 Today I am grateful for biscuits and him and a day in horizontal.

his house

 This table has significance. It was his grandmother's, his mama's and now dinner. 

Today I am grateful for how there are not enough lemon pies in the world to say thank you to and for him.

dinner

 It's raining the morning she leaves. She stayed long enough to watch me use wine to lower my blood pressure. Yes, I know it only increases it but I thought I needed to numb out because anger can be so intense. And I was so mad because I felt like I did good enough to deserve more time with her.

Though I didn't necessarily phrase the question to him that way.

Today I am grateful for a late lunch, long talks on the porch, the sound of rain on the roof, an example of who to be and another chance to show him how much I think of him.

a la carte

 Today I am grateful for kindness and respect, another perspective and an authentic Italian dinner in small town Mississippi. 

Weekend's playlist includes this gem.

guest

 Hosting someone who does so well hosting as a profession could be a challenge, but it's just Karen.

Today I am grateful for a good wine, blueberry sausage, extra sharp cheddar and how it easy it is to pick up where we left off.

resource

 

Today I am grateful for the quiet.

space possum

That led to this.

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to sweat, sweep, mop, watch, and listen as a comic strip is created in front of me.

bamboo sheets

 He talks about the sheets he got at Belk, and I say, "Feel."

We count the seconds between the lightning and thunder before calculating the miles of how far away our chances are of getting hit. Then she runs to the stump after her daddy said not to.  I tell her, "You better listen to him."

Today I am grateful for time to sit on a couch and have a conversation with a friend after I told him I already had friends. I am grateful for a nap and the discovery that the lightning was three miles away. I am also grateful for some forgiveness (hopefully). Backing out of a project and a career in education is the worst. You should never do it, but I did. 

lake run champions

 "I can't," she says and cries and tries to stop until three miles in when she sees and smiles and starts running.

Today I am grateful for a run, a walk, a let your tears be your fuel and push past the labored breathing into the zone of there's only one way back to the car. And that's where the splash pad is.

recommending music

 "My wife thinks you're dead by Junior Brown," he says.

Today I am grateful for work and people and music and Friday.

his smile, his day (it's been too long)

 One on each side of the front walk, he plants. I guess they are ferns but I am most looking forward to the moment I ask him in person. I hear them on the porch shuffling, rooting and snorting. A knock at the door of the igloo.

"Do you want to go to the pool?"

Today I am grateful for a phone call, an email, the sweetest invitation and enough lemons to make a pie for that guy. 

getting started

 

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to listen as others share their genius.

focus on literacy weekend - blueprint due Sunday

 "You didn't forget me?" he asked.

"Not once," I should've said then nothing else.

Today I am grateful for a walk with a friend, that sweet baby and the whole family. I am grateful for this one thing I can do for him, for her and for them. 

evenin'

 I know it's too much and it's June and will it ever stop raining, but I am so grateful for the sound of rain on a tin roof, mandarin oranges, dark chocolate, how deer flies can make me appreciate indoor space and summer school.

a boy, a blueprint

 He refused to shake my hand which was weird because I was kinda thrilled to meet him but I get it. I guess. I don't know. We'll see.

Today I am grateful for a kid, for how the water is now nicely pushed through two faucets, plenty of groceries, and two jobs this week.

Yellow Dog, Two Dog, Three Dog Night

 Today I am grateful for a ride and meals and a roof and a bed and an ocean and a beach. I am grateful for a bath lit from one bulb to the left in the shower, a long morning with clouds and raindrops forming circles in the pool, the loneliness I feel without them and how a rain produces the perfect music. 

Whew.

in anticipation

 Today I am grateful for time and baths and rest and music and all the stories we'll hear and tell and how nice it will be to be there. 

three, two, one

Whenever You're Ready to Begin by Angee Montgomery

Today I am grateful for our plans, for some time with the girls and how now we know that 50 kilometers equals 31.0686 miles. Only five more than the marathon, it can be done.

time and integrity

It is a forced perk sacrifice. I'm saying if you're going to have a meeting, definitely make it quick so kudos on that but don't thank a group of people for doing an amazing job while telling them you are going to remove a perk from it. 

Today I am grateful for a continued debate, a struggle which I just have to do what they say but it does make me less inclined to care and that makes me question my integrity.

able

Today I am grateful for work.