7 Wonderful Things

1. Spinning in the shadows with friends and letting yourself fall over, over and over again. Getting back up and spinning the other direction. Tucking your arms in so that the spin becomes twice as fast before you fall into the grass. 
2. Cats who choose to curl up in your lap even though their owner says they are shy. Thank you for choosing me, cat. 
3. Thrift stores having extremely specific collections of items, such as an entire shelf of Property Brother's gnome sets. Seriously. DM me if you want one.
4. Baby goats! Their little hops! Someone send me a baby goat and a farm to let it live on, please, ASAP. 
5.  Random people who innocuously compliment you on your leaf-patterned shorts. Thank you for your good work in the world.
6. Teachers excited to teach and classmates excited to be in the class.
7. Long hugs with kind people.

tokens from the almost-abandoned mall in south carolina

1. a window display with a skirt, shirt, and Sixteen Candles poster, deflated balloons scattering the bottom. This is not connected to a store. There is no event posted. Your friend will not notice the display.
2. stains on the escalator that you will tell yourself are from cranberries. It may be cherries, or perhaps even an avocado. You aren't great at identifying stains. You should work on that.
3. an empty fountain. There is dust where there should be water droplets, and a cricket jumps into the pumps. 
4. wait, did that window display just move? 
5.  no. That's just Jeremy. Say hello! 
6.  a small, realistic car that you suspect would run if it had either gas or legs. 
7. a single Bluefin Tuna. Watch your back.

The 10 People You Will See in a Coffee Shop this August

1. A man wearing a velvet purple coat despite the heat. He will tell you that Ira Glass and he got into a fight once. You won't believe him until he shows you his microphone-shaped scar on his neck with the letters "TAL" branded into the side.
2. A kid wearing only a baby blue baseball cap and a pair of grinch boxers. He will only sing Justin Bieber's Despacito, which the barista will interpret as a grande mocha latte with extra skim milk. The barista is correct.
3. Someone will be talking about the birds. They will be listening.
4. Your friendly street mime who does not find it funny that you come up to him and pretend to be in a box. He separates his work from his life and does not appreciate you blurring those lines. You should stop that. Like, for real. Boxes aren't even shaped like that, dude.
5. The person who inexplicably carries around the movie Up in their purse. They won't elaborate when you ask why. They have never seen Up. They do not ask, however what is Up. They are aware.
6. The barista with a beard that covers the entire lower half of his face. You suspect he doesn't have a mouth. You probably should not ask. You need to learn ASL.
7. Someone on a computer furiously typing, as though working on an important email. She is not working on an important email. She is working on an important blog post for her four faithful readers for the first time in a year. She recommends the lemon blueberry scone. 
8. The local star of an indie movie who is VERY THANKFUL no one is ambushing him with requests for signatures or photos. Really, usually tons of people come up to him. This break from fame is great. Really great. Yes. Really unexpected that everyone is playing it so cool.
9. Four people wearing teal. This will feel significant. You won't know why until mid-September.
10. The glitter enthusiast. Take her cue. Remember next time to bring your glitter. Maybe mix it in with your face wash. And shampoo. And lotion. This will protect you from Ira.