July 2020
by Tom Swift
31 Friday
- A mowed lawn.
- Perfect nights.
- Night lights.
- Your health.
- Your gut.
- Your bed.
- Your dog.
- Your moods.
- All the birds.
30 Thursday
- Perfect mornings.
- Plenty of time to walk.
- Recovery day.
- Snout soccer.
- Bosch episodes — the second-time through. When you can follow it all.
- The anticipation of a new book.
- Digestive breaks.
- Repetition.
29 Wednesday
- Being relied upon.
- Confidence.
- When you no longer have to worry about whether you can handle it — you can.
- Boundaries.
27 Monday
- The chance to care for your little buddy.
- Your dog’s cardiologist. So kind. Patient.
- The people who work at places that care for companion animals with a smile on their face all day long. A special place in heaven awaits, no doubt.
- Warm, sunny days.
- Cars that get you there.
- The technology that gives doctors the ability to see inside bodies.
- Ladders.
25 Saturday
- Breakthroughs on a piece.
- Turmeric.
- Squat practice.
- Bench practice.
- When you focus on form and leave outcome to be what it is.
- Aluminum foil.
24 Friday
- Fast day.
- Fast days.
- Writing all day.
- Helping out a colleague.
- Helping out a stranger.
- Doing your best.
- Beating the heat.
- Your cool house. Temperature-wise anyway.
- Manageable Fridays.
- When you talk to your insurance agent and it’s not agonizing.
- A long weekend.
- Meat in the mail.
23,Thursday
- Self-education.
- Talking insurance with your father.
- Making a plan.
- Scrambled eggs with cheese. Just a little cheese, please.
22 Wednesday
- Wrestling with ideas.
- Losing yourself in thoughts.
- Paying the tab fee right away.
- Walks to the post office box.
- Cool mornings.
21 Tuesday
- A capable and reasonable mechanic.
- The ability to drive down the street.
- Light rail.
- Greg: a guy who takes the extra step to make it work.
- Work from home. A dog saver.
20 Monday
- Neighbors who look out for loose dogs.
- Acceptance.
- Running with your dog.
- Curry.
19 Sunday
- Having a friend who answers your call.
- Strangers who let you use their phone when you are in a spot.
- Emotional challenges that come when your day is upended.
- Signs of growth.
- Escape.
- Big meals.
- Leg raises.
- A hungry dog.
- Fiber.
18 Saturday
- Sumo deadlifts.
- Pull-up progress.
- Memories.
- Baseball.
- Brussel sprouts.
- Short walks.
- Writing while walking.
- Naps when you are behind on sleep.
- Summer storms.
- Fans blowing on your body — the hum of a fan — at night.
16 Thursday
- The chance to fumble with written words all day.
- A good workout after three days off.
- Farmer Carries.
- Fasting.
- Your digestive system.
- Memories of baseball.
15 Wednesday
- When your dog shows you a blue jay sitting on your fence. Is there a prettier shade of blue in the known universe?
- Sun time.
- People who don’t light firecrackers during the dinner hour because they know they are not the only people (or pets) in the world who can hear them.
14 Tuesday
- The moment you know you are on your way back up to baseline after a dip.
- Water.
- Lemon Ginger Honey Echinacea juice. A little glass of heaven. Especially when your tummy is unsettled.
- When things fall into place.
- An assignment you are jazzed about.
- Clouds.
13 Monday
- Cleaning house on a Monday night.
- Confidence without arrogance.
- To-do lists.
- The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
- Cod sandwiches.
12 Sunday
- Jazz.
- Extra time.
- Extra rest.
- Going to the Falls.
- Cod.
- Sunshine.
- The chipmunk that dared your dog.
- Looking for advantage in everything.
11 Saturday
- Fast weeks.
- Early mornings.
- A break from the humidity.
- A break from food.
- The benefits of squat practice.
- A mowed lawn.
- The confidence to criticize.
- 90 minutes of escape at just the right time.
- The strength to be constructive.
- Good conversation.
- Electronic boundaries.
- Waiting until you are ready.
- Tater tots.
5 Sunday
- Talking about writing.
- Realizing you did more than you accounted for.
- Meeting deadline.
- Counting everything.
- Discounting nothing.
- The way reading fills the well.
- Chocolate-chip cookies.
- Good conversation.
- Extra coffee.
4 Saturday
- People who read the Declaration of Independence.
- People who care about the idea of America.
- People who push to bring us closer to our founding principles.
- People who fight against the current regime, which, by any sober definition, is anathema to those principles.
- People who put country over party.
- Frederick Douglass.
- Harriet Tubman.
- The moment the fireworks end. Editor’s note: dog entry.
3 Friday
- When you correct yourself: no, it’s not Saturday today.
- Being safely away from fireworks. Your little buddy added that entry.
- A new way to serve your dog food.
- When you check in before anger rises and then find a new, better way to go. Such moments are nothing short of minor miracles.
- Oatmeal. With cinnamon.
2 Thursday
- Reminders of what needs to be done.
- Carpenter ants.
- Having enough.
- A cool basement.
- Sharing when not sharing is an option.
- Having just enough butter.
- Wind chimes — intended and not.
- Saving for a rainy day.
- Active recovery.
- Cucumbers.
1 Wednesday
- Canada.
- Rides with your little buddy, widows down.
- A/C.
- Getting your reps in.
- Steak sandwiches.
- Sound sleep.