Pickle jongg

I’ve discovered that, for my generation at least and perhaps for the shoulder generations to GenX, there are two types of women: those who play pickleball and those who play mah jongg. And they have much more in common than you think.

• • •

A Social Experiment on Facebook

I bought a new car back in April, a Chevy Equinox EV. I don’t buy new cars very often, so I was pretty excited. It’s also our first EV, and the thing is so tricked out it’s like driving the Enterprise from Star Trek. (One of the new ones like D or E, not the original NCC-1701 with no letter.) (Yeah. I know my Trek.) I researched like crazy and we test drove several different EVs and a hybrid before we ordered, and I felt solid about my choice.

• • •

Pointing

Ross Gay, one of my favorite poets/essayists, said that writing is a version of pointing at things. “Writing stuff I notice helps me, I think. It’s a version of pointing, writing is. Pointing and thinking, to be more precise. Preciser still: wondering!”

• • •

Time Travel

My local library system recently opened a new flagship location, which is wonderful since it’s five minutes from my house. The first time I visited, I walked around to get a feel for the place. It’s pretty snazzy, but I was super jazzed to find an entire set of shelves that holds yearbooks, both high school and college, from around the region. I thought I remembered where my gran went to high school but when I looked, I instead found M’s grandmother. (What are the odds?!) 

• • •

It’s actually NOT a misunderstanding

I ran to the grocery store the other day—my old store, not ALDI—to pick up just a few things that ALDI doesn’t carry. I grabbed one of the wee carts and start blasting around the perimeter, as I do. The one thing I really miss about this particular store is the music. I don’t even register what ALDI plays, if anything. The HVAC unit in there is so obnoxiously loud that the Pride of Troy could be blasting away in the meat section and we wouldn’t hear it. But the fancy store…they play good music.

• • •

Twenty-five in Twenty-five

Two years ago, after listening to a podcast I love, I sat down with a dear friend to create our “23 in ‘23” lists. Twenty-three things we each wanted to accomplish in 2023. We did this in January of ‘23 so we were actually working with a little less than a year, but it was ok. The podcast hosts encourage listeners to include some stretch goals, of course, but also save room for the easily attainable. That way one doesn’t get discouraged as the year goes on.

• • •

The Art of Letting Go

My deep contemplation of letting go began in earnest in late 2019 when I signed up for an online decluttering class and, over the course of the next year, excavated my home to dismiss a bunch of crap that was simply weighing us down. Releasing physical objects is perhaps the easiest kind of letting go.

• • •
1 2 3 7