1. At the DMV, met a retired kindergarten teacher who sang with her choir at the 1964 World’s Fair.
2. Expressed great gratitude that a man I would guess had Egyptian ancestry agreed to take my mom’s personal check to pay for the dumbass fake car inspection I needed so desperately.
3. Ate a beautiful meal in a small, dark, cool restaurant with two aunts and two uncles and my mom.
4. Was again thrilled to observe the famous Working Bunnies of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, primly handing out pens and receipts in their proper little mouths.
5. Danced hard with cousins, second cousins, and strangers.
6. Sat on a balcony where we could see both an enormous, pale white statue of Christ, and an enormous, pale white full moon, with a glass of wine I didn’t want, but felt it social to order, to reaffirm that I really wanted that post-party drink experience.
7. (Got relaxed enough to have) floated on my back in a lake and watched clouds.
8. Sang “Beep Beep, I’m a Sheep” when anxiety crested. Helpful. Added verses: “mammal/I’m a camel,” etc.
9. Wore an old-fashioned sunbonnet while bobbing along a water park’s lazy river.
10. Stood right in front of Pa’s fiddle and its we’re gonna make through art energy. Related: learned many songs Pa played and sang along with them.
11. Did a dance outside a Braum’s in Springfield, Missouri, when the dealership finally told me my car would be fully repaired, fully funded by THEM.
12. Sat in a hot tub even though the button for the bubbles had been boarded over since our last visit (damn the torpedoes).
13. High fived every member of my student dental team who made me smile and relax as they pulled my gigantic tooth out of my head (in one piece!).
14. Pondered with gratitude my doctor’s quick response to needing more anti-anxiety meds, especially considering the fact that a week later my car would die on a road trip and send me into spirals of shame and fear.
15. Thought about how anxiety can and will be in the room with you while you experience joy, and you can say hi to anxiety but mostly talk to joy.
16. Read all the Little House books (okay, not The First Four Years, or Farmer Boy, but I got damn close).
17. Put a postcard picture of Laura Ingalls Wilder in my writing area. Wildly successful, highly skilled writer probably pooh-poohed for her audience and her “sentimentality,” but they can suck it because writing for kids is important, I still have an inner kid who likes to read, and “sentimentality” done right is a miracle drug.
18. Survived my canoe overturning five times, and the two biggest, deepest bruises of my life, through the use of canned mai tai and laughter.
19. Saw me some baby turtles on that river!
20. Kissed a camel.
21. Mini golfed barefoot, therefore experiencing a smorgasbord of fake grass textures.
22. Washed my hair with dog shampoo.
23. Visited the new Amelia Earhart hanger museum, and enjoyed their animated tribute to Earhart as dreamer and adventure role model.
24. Researched and wrote about a veteran buried in a local cemetery.
25. Observed many well dressed people leaning into the ’80s, and the enthusiasm of the elderly members of Earth, Wind & Fire, and experienced The Great Lionel (Richie) with my dad who introduced us to such classic videos as “Penny Lover.”
26. Played Telestrations After Dark, and it got real real dirty friends.
27. Successfully wore a hat (mostly early summer).
28. Finished The Best Minds, Walk Through Walls, and read this sentence in the New York Times: “Faucet-like curved metal spout may intrigue a tap-loving pet.”
29. Two therapy sessions that were mostly affirming what I wanted to do, but needed support to clinch.
30. Went to the Truman Library three times, twice to research in the archives, learning a bit about de-Nazification, and once with my dad. Ate in an ancient restaurant in the cellar in Independence.
31. Poured much wine into friends’ wine glasses.
32. Was bitten by misogynistic parrot I had been told was “a good guy.”
33. Finally stopped at the motherfucking Brass Armadillo antique mall, a place I’ve been driving by all my life. It was fine. Whatever.
34. Assisted in the rescue of an endangered inflatable llama.
35. Told my niece some family stories and got to be with her in our sorta ancestral hometown.
36. Attended a cartooning class at Charlotte Street that got me writing in a way that didn’t seem so intimidating.
37. Spent a ton of time sitting on my balcony with my cats, coffee, and books.
38. Had another incredible lunch at Andre’s, grilled cheese, carrot salad, greens, Matterhorn pastry. Andre’s, seriously, I want your food more than your chocolate (it’s TRUE).
39. Baked some great pumpkin muffins with almond flour (which might be good for my blood sugar, cholesterol, or something).
40. Held about a flock’s worth of babies, and helped kids do things like choose an animal from the water table, “water” trees with a bubble gun, etc.
41. Watched “Napoleon Dynamite” while eating the most delicious tater tots in the world.
42. Sexually harassed a bronze sculpture of Mark Twain.
43. Rode a new ride at a theme park, yes, I was scared because I’m always scared, yes, I know it’s a “family coaster.”
44. Survived Saturday morning at the only Bucee’s for miles, while receiving a phone call about my tow truck driver having a heart attack.
45. Watched a bunch of that Simone Biles action!
46. Watched my nephew and nieces put on the fashion show of the century using my carefully collected costumes of 30some years.
47. Wrote a solid poem. (I think I can get about one a year maximum.)
48. Survived the extreme anxiety associated with an ex-president being convicted of a felony, being almost assassinated, then a presidential candidate stepping down, and another one stepping up.
49. Saw some monkeys going buck wild at the zoo.
50. Visited the TWA museum and learned a lot about TWA, and a bit about the lives of her volunteers… how they found out their ex-wives were cheating on them, why they never had children.
51. Finished a Sunday Times crossword.
52. Saw Jeffery Gibson’s “American Girl” at the Nerman.
53. Loved a show of Indian Space Painters at Crystal Bridges.
54. Accidental art purchase:
Going On 