Weeknotes: September 28–October 2, 2026
Monday, September 28
Tossing and turning in the pre-dawn hush, I vow to manufacture at least one spontaneous moment in the day ahead. By 5 p.m., I have little to show — it's been a routine, though not unpleasant day.
About a half hour before my online history class starts, I decide to build a bonfire in my backyard. I sit on my wooden bench with a glass of wine and log in to the lecture. My profile photo smiles back at me from the Zoom gallery while the professor unpacks the events leading up to the Revolutionary War. I stare into the embers and lose the thread. When I come to, I hear her quip "when times get tough, the tough build a fort." I built a fort to help me get through this lecture.
Weeknotes: September 21–25, 2026
Monday, September 21
"I'm turning on the heat!" My upstairs neighbor and I share a thermostat; domestic climate control is achieved through texts.
Technically, it's the last day of summer, but the weather is giving off late-October vibes. I take a break from work to mow the lawn, shifting from vertical stripes to an angled pattern midway through, just to shake things up. I feel like I don't have enough spontaneity in my life right now.
At 4 p.m., I stop by a meet-and-greet happy hour at the Observer. I'm greeted at the back door by Bug, the editor-in-chief's Boston terrier. Staff and freelancers mingle and drink kombucha spiked with tequila (TK). There is pizza, and someone brought pimento cheese, which I spread on my leftover crusts, a delicious combo I've somehow never tried before.
After extracting myself, I navigate rush hour traffic, and arrive home just in time to log in to my 6 p.m. history class. We learn about the French-Indian War, which I am reminded was not between French colonizers and Indians, but between European rivals France and England.