Bright Spots

First, an update for those of you who have been anxiously awaiting this news: I have a new recycling bin AND it was emptied into a truck without being either destroyed/kidnapped. WE’RE BACK, BABY!! Now, onto this week’s email: Way back in January, one of the goals I set for myself this year was to build a desk. I have my office in a little converted closet and the space is tight and kind of unusual, so none of the tables or desks that I have found premade work quite right.

Up until the recycling truck arrived, it had been a regular Tuesday. Just like every Tuesday, the bins were out in our neighborhood and the trucks drove by, lifting them up, dumping the contents, and then placing them back on the street. The garbage got collected. The yard waste and compost got collected. All that was left was the blue bin’s turn. I was coming back from the grocery store when I saw the recycling truck rumbling down our block.

Some Thoughts I Had While Flying Cross-Country with 2 Kids Under 3 Years Old (in Haiku Form) It’s incredible that people ever do this at all, even once More tarmac delays? You must be trying to kill my entire spirit This is not easy But we’re doing much better than those other kids I spoke too soon, we are all in a plane of screams.

When I think of Connecticut, several things immediately come to mind: Wealthy, white people Tick-based diseases Clams on pizza This past weekend, however, I gained a new lasting mental image of The Constitution State. An image of a large black bear, hungry for scraps. We had joined a bunch of friends for a weekend by a lake in Northwestern Connecticut. There were seven families, all with young children, and we had an idyllic day splashing around with all the kids in the water.

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As the parent of a 2.5 year old and a nearly 1 year old, I’m very familiar with runny noses. They get them, they give them to us, it’s a never ending cycle. In fact, if we go five consecutive days in our household with no one getting sick, I know we’re due for some sort of illness to strike. But for the past two months, I’ve had a cough and sinus thing that just will not go away. Eventually, I felt like it might be more than just a parade of daycare colds, so I decided to go to the doctor.

By the time you read this, I will likely be on a plane flying cross-country with my entire family for the first time since we had a second kid. Pray for me. At a certain point, I think we had begun to figure out how to travel with one tiny child. The solution was to treat any trip over two hours as though we were simultaneously permanently moving to this new location AND as though we were transporting a live orca that needed to be fed and watered continuously to survive the journey.

I have always loved books. One of my earliest memories is asking my mom when I’d learn to read in school. For one of my birthdays (I think fourth grade? maybe third?) the only presents I asked for were reference books. I was probably the most excited a prepubescent boy has ever been to receive a thesaurus. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear that I am now an active member of a book club. In fact, I think it’s the club I’ve been a part of for the longest.

I’m taking a little break this weekend to get away with some old friends. So just the list this week. I’ll be back with a new essay and the full newsletter next Saturday! My upcoming events and other projects: MY BOOK: Humor Me is out in bookstores everywhere MY PODCAST: Katina Bajaj is a researcher who studies “creative health.” She looks at what makes people feel happy and fulfilled in their lives and work.

In my life before having kids, one of my favorite things to do was to learn other languages. I know it’s a strange hobby and that most people associate language classes with a high school graduation requirement, but I think it’s fascinating to understand how differently ideas can be arranged and conveyed. I’m thinking about other languages today because the Fourth of July as a celebration is all about the USA.