You slide down your stairs to the heated street

It's the last day before another equinox, and I could not be more grateful for the past few months. I was so certain in February that this would be the worst year of my life. I made peace with it even, steeled myself for the onslaught of 28. Instead, it was hands-down the best summer I've ever had. This is going to sound more diary-esque than I'm really comfortable with, but I'll ignore that this once for the sake of the record:

Thanks to the desert and the bay, the Washougal River and the 24 Hour Fitness. Thanks to 21st Amendment's Hell or High Watermelon, EAT's catfish poboy and that daiquiri I had in Louisiana. Thanks to my bike, my cat, my fire escape. Thanks to short shorts and boat shoes. Thanks to that Robyn song "With every heartbeat," which in one four-minute song flipped my whole brain. Thanks to Lil Wayne and Little Dragon. To Lloyd, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Kid Cudi, Tennis, Mariah Carey, The Vaccines and New Order. Thanks to that Bruce Springsteen song "Backstreets," which almost made us cry on that dusty desert road. Thanks to campgrounds and cabins, corn and cantaloupe. (All that to say thanks to my friends, whose brains/hearts/brilliance made me stop all that yearning for somewhere, sometime else).

As my man David Berman says, "hello to feelings that arrive unintroduced!"




*Amanda took this photo of some handwriting I did on her wall. The quote is courtesy of Dorothy from the Golden Girls.