start again today no. 34: spirit, must ride mule, the children, go outside 🌳

Hey 👋🏽,

We drove through ghosts to get there.

There, a seaside town founded in 1631 and found by us a few summers ago.

Our high beams illuminated human sized clouds on the road in front of us as fireworks sparkled in our rear view mirror.

TOWN is a community of diversity

read the 2nd line of a core values placard on a house by the harbor.

I had a sixth sense moment when I bought a souvenir t-shirt from Gail who cried quietly behind her mask and POS desk and told me to “be safe and I’m not just talking about that corona stuff.”

Amy who owns a coffee shop on 2nd street cried too.

I don’t know what to say to African American people right now. I just feel bad for being white. We’re going to change this! Take a bumper sticker.

5yo walked a few feet in front of me when we went shell hunting on the beach.

Why are these shells empty?

He asked, eyes wide, arm outreached, hand open, looking beyond the shell in search of a spirit.

Remember the dog we met? Darwin? Named after the scientist who studied evolution?

He tilted his headed and sort of nodded.

Sometimes, little creatures get eaten by bigger ones.

Worried, he dropped the shell. I caught up with him. He squeezed my hand. I squeezed back.

But maybe they’re empty because whatever was in there previously outgrew the shell.

Here are a few things I enjoyed this week:

🧠 must ride mule (to & from) work location deep south ventures, 6m

I tend to approach projects from the perspective, “what do I have to lose”. And usually, the answer is “not much”. And then that thought morphs into “let’s see what kinda sh*t I can stir up”.

❤️ the children Adrian Octavius Walker & Matthew Manning, 8m

Honesty, adversity, and hope - a celebration of black life.

Mislabeled a weed. And the children become discarded…they wonder if they’ll ever make it back to their pillow for another chance to dream.

🚶🏽‍♀️go outside (safely) Brain Pickings, 13m

Walt Whitman, John Keats, Lorraine Hansberry and others on nature as an antidote to depression.


I see you, I love you, keep looking up and standing up for what is right,

H