My waiter, he asked how old I was in reference to the round of margaritas for the table of guac lovers, and so I replied, “27.” My friends, they turned to me quickly and corrected, “Ash, you are 28.” My years, I have lost them in my foggy brain, forgetting exactly how many moments have [...]
Last night, I had two revelations: 1) I am out of Stress Relief tea, and 2) I can't stop thinking about the young girl on the plane. She wore black chucks with low bright purple socks, hair in a high ponytail, glasses like the ones I wear before bed, and a shirt covered in [...]
I hesitate to bold this title on the page, wishing to change the default of all uppercase, on this journey for more and more quiet. You see, I’ve recently discovered minimalism, handed the key to a secret world. People out there think this recipe can save them, that trimming down will cut the hefty heartbreak [...]
I wonder if it’s worth counting how many mornings over the last four months I scribbled about watching the pink sunrise while listening to the coffee drip from the kitchen just behind me. Each time, I wrote it as if it was a new thought, a new sight, a new sound. And yet, there’s nothing [...]
I saw a man fishing at the lake yesterday. He wore black knee-high boots and stood in the water that came about halfway up his boots. I bet the water felt cold, as we’ve barely kicked the frost in Maryland. He just kept standing there in his baggy khakis draped over his boots, holding his [...]
I showed up late to the podcast game. Last summer, my cousin started talking about this podcast called How I Built This while we straddled dry-rotting green rafts at our family’s lake house in North Carolina, keeping those feet moving to fend off the mole-biting sunfish. (Where are you sweet summer?) So I started listening [...]
I used to babysit a little boy who would say (on repeat during his Cars movie obsession), “Oh no! Tow Mater’s stuck in the mud! Stuck in the mud! Stuck in the mud!” And it reminds me of the emails I receive from readers all over the world. I’m stuck in the mud… I’m stuck in the [...]
On one end of my street, construction workers are knee-deep in building a multi-million dollar library. On the other end, a multi-million dollar fire station will soon have firefighters sliding down the poles they are staking in the ground. It is a mess. Literally. As I've walked by the construction zones on casual strolls [...]
Yesterday, I taught a writing class. We flipped through dogeared pages of Bird by Bird together on a screened-in back porch that overlooked a wooded lot with trees changing colors on me. We waited for the french press to brew our Starbucks medium roast, then wrapped cold fingers around steaming mugs as the temperature dropped. [...]
They asked me, “What brought you back?” “Just to visit,” I said. “Just to see you.” (Did I need a better reason?) This weekend, I had a few options for reunions: high school, college, or grad school. I nearly vomited at the Facebook invite for a ten-year high school reunion. Somehow reliving those years [...]
