Untethered Dog

30 Monday

• Areas of opportunity.
• Your little space heater: your little buddy.
• Real whipped cream.
• Winter bedtime.
• Christmas lights.
• Hunger.
• People who study the effects social media have on our minds.
• The month of November.
• The sound of your breath.

29 Sunday

• Waking way early and making progress on a project you were resisting.
• Signs your at-home workouts are working.
• Flax seed oatmeal. With cinnamon. Of course.
• Darkness. Your old friend.
• When the solar lamp stays on all night.
• Chuck Klosterman.

28 Saturday

• Even-numbered days. They are just better.
• Free pie.
• Social connections.
• Shared interests.
• Books that read fast.
• Messes in the morning. Gotta get up for those.
• Tuna.
• The clarifying energy of purpose.
• Birds that make your power-line shake.

27 Friday

• Turkeys.
• The second turkey dinner of the day.
• The young woman behind the counter who gives you extra whipped cream and doesn’t charge you for it.
• John Candy.
• Movie night.
• The bald eagle spotted by the young boy on the path during your walk.
• Stuffing.
• November nights.

26 Thursday

• Health.
• Home.
• Never missing a meal you don’t have to miss.
• Books.
• Clarity.
• Your job.
• Your little buddy.
• The language you have learned.
• Having a convenience store half a block away. And they stock fries.
• Simplicity.
• Extra blueberries just because.
• The sound of the newspaper landing on your step.

25 Wednesday

• Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
• T-day takeout.
• Progress.
• Evening workouts.
• Taking it as it comes.
• Studying in advance of a discussion.
• Being true to you.
• Born to Run.
• The day before a long weekend.
• Frozen vanilla bean cheesecake.

24 Tuesday

• When all the lights work.
• Chilly walks.
• Second workouts.
• Reading time in the evening.
• A hungry dog.
• Food you don’t have to cook.
• Not caring what people think.
• Resistance bands.
• A book that gets you excited to read.
• Deep sleep.
• The staying power of cauliflower.

23 Monday

• The Riverview Theater.
• Popcorn. With butter.
• Reading time.
• At-home workouts that work.
• The sound of your house filling with warm air first thing In the morning.
• When a plant tells you it needs a drink.
• Creative projects.

22 Sunday

• President Kennedy.
• How quickly the body (including the mind) reacts to positive direction.
• Sunday afternoons.
• Snow that melts hours after it falls.
• Progress.
• Grilled chicken salad.

21 Saturday

• Extra sleep.
• The chance to gather with smart people. If only online.
• What the body says.
• Chocolate just cuz.
• The way your dog can still snare a bounding ball.
• Windless walks.

20 Friday

• Making deadline.
• Feeling good about your submission.
• Getting so much done.
• Having a chance.
• When you have to hustle.
• Libraries.
• Guacamole for the win.

Thursday

• Public/governmental officials who make hard decisions that aren’t popular.
• Your gym. You will miss it.
• New opportunities.
• Chicken at the ready.

17 Tuesday

• Steak and sprouts.
• Working when no one else is.
• Your dog’s breath.
• Laughing about a disappointment.
• Onions.

16 Monday

• Knowing your business.
• Explosive push-ups.
• Breaded baked cod.
• Reading in the middle of the night.
• Playing ball with your little buddy in the basement.
• Ginger.

15 Sunday

• Windy walks.
• Power naps.
• Books.
• Good ideas.
• The chance to teach.
• Journals.
• Newspapers.
• Dogs.
• Free time.
• Constraints.
• Steak and sweet potato dinner.

14 Saturday

• The chance to write.
• Responsibility.
• The moment the cone comes off.
• Three-walk days.
• Moving on.
• Green apples and frozen blueberries.

13 Friday

• Mistakes.
• Moments in which you realize how much you have grown.
• The chance to go on walks with your dog.
• Shared purpose.
• Leftover salmon.
• Opportunities to lead.
• Thanksgiving dinner.
• When you don’t have much time — you have to hustle.
• Hot butter.

12 Thursday

• Half days.
• Hustle.
• Clean sheets.
• Cleared sidewalks.
• Fresh snow.
• Salmon.

11 Wednesday

• Your brother’s birth.

• Just staying in.
• The opportunity to fumble with words.
• The DavidPal36.
• A tidy workspace.
• HSAs.
• Confidence.
• Oregano.

10 Tuesday

• Being as ready for winter as you can be.
• When help is scheduled.
• When heat is summoned.
• The feel of your dog’s soft chin on your exposed shin.
• Oatmeal.

9 Monday

• Damp, warm mornings.

Searching for Bobby Fischer.

Thoughtful friends.

Your instincts.

Oat milk.

8 Sunday

• New boundaries.
• Closed doors.
• Restrictions.
• Broasted chicken dinner with coleslaw and mash potatoes/gravy.
• Chocolate cake.
• Kamala!

7 Saturday

• Heavy sleep.
• The last hour of the waking day.
• Feeling supported.
• Playing snout soccer under the lights on a November night.
• Drawers that open and close.
• Dirty hands.
• Clean gutters.
• A functioning toilet.
• Joe!

6 Friday

• Time to think and be and learn. Time to ask questions of yourself.
• The first sips of morning coffee.
• Listening to your dog slurp water from his bowl.
• When you have occasion to take the packed away patio chairs out of the garage again.
• Clean teeth.

5 Thursday

• The way George H. W. Bush conceded after losing to Bill Clinton.
• Nonpartisan people who count ballots.
• Journalists who care more about being right than being first.
• T-shirts and shorts.
• When you are done raking leaves. Finally.
• Watching your little buddy relaxing in a sunspot in the backyard.
• Scrambled eggs for dinner.

4 Wednesday

• Booker T. Washington.
• The chance to serve as an election judge.
• The best laugh you have ever heard.
• Inducing that laugh.
• Masks.
• Unmasking in other ways.
• A drink when you really need one.
• Warm bread.

3 Tuesday

• Thomas Paine.
• Steve Schmidt.
• Rosa Parks.
• Abraham Lincoln.
• Nancy Pelosi.
• Harriet Tubman.
• Barack Obama.
• Thomas Jefferson.
• Reed Galen.
• George Washington.
• Every man and woman who has spent time and energy this year trying to keep the republic.
• Every man and woman who gave you the chance to vote.

2 Monday

• Pablo Cruise’s “Love Will Find the Way.”
• Farmer carries.
• A break from all other energy save for your own.
• A full grocery cart.
• Sunshine through the kitchen window.

1 Sunday

• The month of November.
• An extra hour.
• Windy walks.
• The cheering of the trees, those that still have leaves.
• The morning stretch.
• The kind kid at the bakery who slips extra doughnuts into your bag, gratis, because he knows it’s your birthday.
• Browsing in a library. You miss it so much.
• Chocolate croissants.
• That you get a shot at this life.