Inspiration floods in like an atmospheric river in the Pacific Northwest. Never heard of an atmospheric river? Me either. But once you hear the term, you can’t unhear it, and once you see its impact, you understand that this weather pattern means business.
What else means business is my interior-designing mind. Being away from home is dangerous, I’ve learned. Upon returning, I feel the need to change things. It’s like an unscratched itch, a verbal tick not yet ticked. Or—more accurately—an impulse that demands a full gallon of paint splashed against a wall.
Specifically, Sherwin-Williams’ Dried Thyme. A big impact at a small price, with leftovers for when I inevitably go accent-wall buck wild the next time the itch returns.
But before that, Christmas needs to come down, and I need to find a place for the millions of Evelyn’s new toys.
I also learned that I fall really well.
On the fifteen-minute walk from Climate Pledge Arena to Westlake Mall, I discovered this tidbit. I was in slippers, with Evelyn on my shoulders, in the middle of a crowd of people who, like us, skipped the Monorail’s long lines in favor of walking. My toe caught the lip of an uneven sidewalk panel, my foot lacking the structure of a real shoe, and suddenly I became a Jenga tower on its final block.
Strangely, it unfolded step by step: awareness of Evelyn first, then a desperate pulling backward against the fall, and finally a flattening of my body so she could land on me, so we were two horizontal pieces of plywood. I ended in full Superman arms, with nothing worse than a burning elbow (now scabbed) and a sore knee. Evelyn walked away with a nickel-sized bruise on her knee. That was it.
Brush hands. Move forward. Nothing to see here—just a perfectly choreographed demolition by experts.
Lesson learned: no shoulder rides on dark, uneven sidewalks shaped like the numbers seven and three, especially in shoes designed exclusively for slipping on and off.
Alright, I’m getting distracted. Playing with Bunny, texting with friends. The candle on this post is burning low and needs to be snuffed out.
*blow*
Love, Jaclynn
Going On 40 