We were kayaking in the afternoon, letting the river carry us gently. I had stopped paddling, watching the banks, when I drifted too close and got caught in a set of branches. I used my oar to push myself free and ducked under a low limb...
Ella and I wear the same size shoes now, and we have a few identical pairs. This afternoon, I slip hers on without realizing and head toward the mailbox. Something feels off almost immediately. Wrong in small, specific ways. Tight where I expect give. Loose where...
Several years ago, we were staying near the Grand Canyon in what was advertised as “glamorous camping.” What sold me was the promise of showers with warm water. Rustic, I can do. Cold showers, I am less fond of. We were getting ready for the day,...
The doors arrived on a Tuesday, and by that afternoon the whole house felt different. The old doors throughout our house had been scuffed and chipped, dragging slightly along the floor in places. The new ones went in all at once. Bright white. Clean. Fresh and perfect....
I came across a Teacher Appreciation Week video made by current students at the high school I graduated from. One by one, students walk down the familiar hallway, smiling before they even reach the microphone, and give shout-outs to the teachers who have made a...
If you happen to be walking through the countryside in Ireland and come across a single tree that seems a bit out of place, you might be standing in the presence of a rare kind of wonder—a fairy tree. Often smaller than the surrounding trees,...
It was early on a Tuesday morning, and I was driving to the airport for a 9 a.m. flight. I’ve been enough times that I don’t need directions, but since it was rush hour, I turned Google Maps on to see how traffic was moving. The...
At Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, there’s a massive clock located in the international transit area that stops people in their tracks. At first glance, it looks like a man is inside of the clock, painting the minute hand forward by hand, every single minute. He wears blue...
Over spring break, our family spent an afternoon at the movie theater, seeing Project Hail Mary. In the story, a man wakes up alone in deep space with no memory and no trace of the life he left behind, tasked with a mission of saving the...
I was nearing the end of a Peloton ride, dragging a bit, when something caught the corner of my eye. Just outside the window next to me, a silver mylar balloon had drifted into our yard and was bumping lightly against the window next to...