Raquel lies next to me now, trying to go to sleep with some podcast playing softly in her ear. It's her trick.I can't imagine how it possibly works for her. It would keep me awake, I'm sure of it.
The picture above was the boy wearing one of my Burning Man boilersuits, in the old apartment in Sonoma. He and I had a lot of fun there together. Looking back I see now that I learned something important there, that my happiness wasn't dependent on very much, but could still be easily taken away.
Not the most profound lesson of course but there were others. I was making good money and was free to do as I pleased about 50% of the time. I developed a renewed interest in photography, and began to enjoy a more solitary existence. I recall evenings watching movies in the living room, either by myself or with the boy. Waking before sunrise and going for a bike ride and to the gym. Reading in bed all day on the weekends without the boy. I learned to cook in a rudimentary way. I became pretty good at making a small handful of dishes - lasagna, coq au vin, whole baked chicken with potatoes and gravy, stews, baked fish, pasta dishes, all sorts of meats and vegetables on the grille. I possessed a modest but ever growing set of kitchen utensils. I started to improve at weekly shopping in such a way that I could plan basic meals. It lasted for about three years.
Don't expect anything new.
