DAY THREE

A DAY.

Easy drive into town. Auto insurance quotes by (CarPlay) phone and text en route. Free downtown parking (joy!) in a low clearance garage with impossibly tight turns (stressful!). Lunch meeting with a former colleague, talking all things fundraising and non-profits and a rapidly changing world. Brisk cross-town walk under (sunny, cloudless) blue skies to a reserved shared learning space at the beautiful central branch of the public library. Virtual meetings ranging from chart of account changes (left brain) to film festival prep (right brain). Slower retracing of cross-town steps to a historic hotel, FaceTiming with adult child #2 along the way. Digital commiseration about the Luka trade (RIP Mavs) between adult child #2 and adult child #1, currently in management at said historic hotel. Tall jokes (always tall jokes) about adult child #1 by his colleague. Successful (harrowing) navigation back out of the garage and into the (choppy, aggressive) flow of traffic. The dreaded thunk of a sideswiping car (little Mercedes G-something) changing lanes without looking. Winding paths through a side street and parking lot for the inevitable taking of photos (Bronco for the win), exchanging of insurance and contact information, empathy (a student driver). Position re-assumed (headed home) with the top back and carrying hope that the damage is truly as it appears (virtually nothing). Satellite radio (all the way up) and wild wind speeding the miles along. Driveway examination by flashlight of the (virtually non-visible) potential damage in the early twilight. Spicy (garlicky, citrusy) red beans and rice mopped up with sourdough. Delayed response emerging (slight but discernible).

“Alexa, play John Mayer.”

The man knows (mine and Mayer).