This morning, as I wrote my plan for the day (which includes visiting our local library), this essay from 2024 popped into my head, and I'd like to share it again. I wrote it "in the moment." ***** The following is about someone I observed on a recent trip to the library. It was interesting to me because it’s one of those scenes I observed that looked like it was staged. But it wasn’t. Anyway, here it is. It’s short and doesn’t “do” much (in other words, there’s no action per se), but it...

I need new glasses. My prescription hasn’t changed. And the lenses on my current pair aren’t scratched. In fact, my glasses are in perfectly fine shape. Well, almost … Every once in a while, the right temple (that’s the proper term for the arm that extends from the frame and goes around your ear) gets loose, and I have to tighten it. But I can’t because, you guessed it (or maybe not), I need my glasses to see the tiny little screws that require tightening. (Quite a conundrum, isn’t it?)...

How do you get up in the morning? It’s a nebulous question, I know; one that could be taken a number of ways. “What does he mean by ‘how’? Does he want to know the physical process I go through to get out of bed?” Fair point. Or maybe you’re asking, “Does he mean how do I get excited––how I get ‘up’ for the day ahead?” Maybe you interpreted in an even more “Oh my God” way, like “How does he/she do it? If I were them, I don’t know if I’d have the strength to get out of bed every day.” To...