Untethered Dog

31 Thursday

• The healing power of exercise.
• Resistance training for longevity.
• Cafe coffee.
• A hard-won draft.
• Learning about the law.
• The promise of white chicken chili and ciabatta bread.
• New Year’s Eve.
• 2020. Yes, really.
• When Harry Met Sally.

29 Tuesday

• The people who administer COVID-19 tests.
• One thing that’s working: you can go get a test without leaving your car.
• When you trudge through a book’s first half, wondering how you are ever going to get through, then find yourself learning and thinking in new ways during the second half.
• Ibuprofen.

28 Monday

• Sick days when you need them.
• A boss that understands.
• Care without leaving home.
• Capsule Pharmacy.
• Getting to sleep through the night.
• Ricola.
• Television.
• Hot chicken soup.

27 Sunday

• Clarity.
• Contribution.
• Walks while it snows.
• Melatonin.
• Fierce Attachments.
• Simple Human.
• Your dog’s old blanket.
• Your job.
• Vitamin C.

26 Saturday

• A good night of sleep.
• Green tea.
• Honey.
• Hot drinks on a cool throat.
• Hunger.
• Day-old spaghetti. With meatballs.
• Wit.
• Moments when you realize that you like yourself.
• Moments when you can see an ailment’s end.
• Commitments.
• The smoke that emits from your neighbor’s chimney.

25 Friday

• Movies. On a day when you are sick.
• Hot tea.
• A little buddy ready to cuddle.
• Tylenol.
• Alan Rickman.
• The sweet final moments of Christmas Day, when it’s over but it’s not. You can still here Christmas music — the bells are still ringing — for just a little while longer.

24 Thursday

• Charlie Brown Christmas music.
• An unexpected gift.
• The postal service.
• Safe at home with the little buddy during a snow storm.
• Landing the week well.
• Time.
• Snowplow personnel.
• Freedom.
• Having enough.
• Christmas Eve.

23 Wednesday

• Extra dough.
• Moist cookies.
• Mr. Keating.
• Farmer carries.
• Melatonin.
• Ginger.
• Keeping an open mind.
• Colored Christmas lights.
• Homemade hamburgers.

22 Tuesday

• Morning movement.
• Winter.
• Writing while walking.
• Walking in new places.
• A tired dog.
• A hungry dog.
• Surprise cookies.
• Opportunities. Ideas. Dreams.
• Pink skies.
• Kale for breakfast.
• Acceptance.

21 Monday

• Simple Human.
• Simple things.
• The gift of laughter.
• Balmy days.
• Walking and talking.
• A new era.
• Krinkle-cut fries.
• A new (to you) cookie: the kringla.
• Kind neighbors.
• Holiday weeks.
• Jupiter. Saturn. Old friends. Together again.

20 Sunday

• The Winter Solstice.
• The brevity of wit.
• Saying just enough.
• Taking a phone break.
• When in doubt, read.
• Frank Deford.

19 Saturday

• The gift of sharing.
• Feedback. The internal kind.
• Having others you can rely on.
• The clarity of time.
• Moments of freedom.
• French fries.

18 Friday

• This moment.
• Letting go of the one just past.
• Your couch.
• Opportunities to expand self-awareness.
• Sorting through the disparate parts of you to find the one you like best.
• Lentil soup to dunk your bread in.

17 Thursday

• Sleeping through the night.
• Morning: the best time of the day.
• Shared experience. Even while tired.
• Having enough.
• Increasing your security.
• Being a hoarder of the right things.
• Knowing you have a break coming soon.

• Living on the edge: buying a new (to you) variety pack of oatmeal.

16 Wednesday

• Your beating heart.
• The feel of your fingers.
• Alpha waves. Beta, too.
• Morning water.
• Making it to payday.
• One good conversation.
• Your journal.
• Morning motivations.
• Brown rice and beef because it’s there.

15 Tuesday

• Morning clarity.
• The chance to teach.
• Your neuroses.
• The heat.
• Hot tea.
• Long underwear.
• Your passion.
• Making decisions.
• The sounds your dog makes when he dreams.
• Getting by.

14 Monday

• Morning greetings.
• Evening chats.
• Morning warmth.
• Evening cool.
• Bodyweight squat challenge.
• The compound effect of daily pushups.
• Eating through the fridge.
• Morning meditation.
• Bruce Springsteen’s Letters to You.
• Honey.

13 Sunday

• Making it to the other side.
• A reprieve.
• The chance to rest.
• The Democracy Coalition.
• Salad.
• Walks you squeeze into a work day.
• When your dog can work with you.
• Steve Schmidt.
• Remembering who you are.
• Slow-cooked chicken thighs.
• Sundays.

12 Saturday

• Water.
• Being uncomfortable.
• Doing your own thing.
• Supporting yourself.
• Whipped cream.
• Reading time.
• Having the park to yourself.
• Helping out a stranger.

11 Friday

• Opportunities.
• Early morning writing.
• Your dog’s yawn.
• Your dog’s sigh.
• Short days.
• A made bed.
• A hungry stomach.

10 Thursday

• Being trusted.
• Being good.
• Being asked.
• Pepperoni pizza cooked just right.
• A quick game of ball. Outside. In December.
• Jerry Seinfeld.
• 100 push-ups a day.

9 Wednesday

• Having a little buddy with you while you work.
• Dancing with yourself.
• Hearing the nicest thing.
• Apples and blueberries.
• Big dinners.

8 Tuesday

• Reasonable people.
• Understanding people.
• How you deal with difficult people now.
• Hamburger night. With tater tots.
• Sumo squats.
• How soft your dog still is.
• Ibuprofen.
• Tea that makes you sleepy.

7 Monday

• The theme to Hill Street Blues.
• The idea of America.
• The men and women who fought and died for that idea.
• The men and women who fight today for that idea.
• Bones your dog does flips over.
• The compound effect of meditation.
• Garlic shrimp.

6 Sunday

• Extra reading time.
• Evening stretching.
• The nap that was calling you.
• Finally finding someone who can article precise benefits from meditation — and how you experience them.
• Long walks with no wind.
• Oatmeal for dinner.
• Lenny & Squiggy.

5 Saturday

• Moments of bliss.
• When you know you’re going to get there.
• Corn-chip chili. With cheese.
• Working at home.
• Winging it.
• Ending a busy week in a really good place.
• The confidence that comes from repetition.
• Salad kits.

4 Friday

• Your house!
• That you get to go for walks right after work.
• When your little buddy sleeps on your lap.
• When you realize you do have a box of macaroni and cheese in the cupboard, and just in time to become a dinner side.
• The feedback you get from inside about what is right for you to say and do.
• The last twenty-five pages of a book.
• The home-stretch of a busy week.

3 Thursday

• Your ability to hear.
• The learning that occurs when you ask good questions.
• Fast days.
• Broccoli slaw.
• Getting over hump day during a busy week.
• Falling asleep without trying.
• Hemp shakes.

2 Wednesday

• Free time.
• The absence of a usual stress.
• Happy dog.
• A good report.
• A lesser bill.
• Cereal as a midnight snack.
• Hours that fly by.
• A warm bed.

1 Tuesday

• The promise of the morning.
• Playtime.
• Deep sleep.
• The reflection of holiday lights on windows.
• Evening exercise.
• Evening reading.
• Getting ahead.
• Keeping your head above water.
• Chocolate-chip cookies.