It’s a vaporous week, coming toward the end of a long stretch of colder than normal weather with lots of stratus clouds, onshore flow and building rooftops disappearing into fog. Whatever warmup is allegedly inbound looks like it’ll come down strong well inland of home and work addresses. Let’s see!

I forgot about the wild onions until I reached into a jean jacket pocket this morning at my desk at work. On Saturday, I helped a friend of a friend with cleaning-crew pizza-and-salad party. Turning over and replanting a succulent in a front yard bed meant finding them within tightly packed roots.

I spent the day around folks exceedingly happy to be who, when and where they were, with an event providing the what and why. You can’t help but soak up some of that energy, even while going in and out of and around various chutes, ladders and token obstacles, and consider passing it along to others.

There I was, explaining what I do to a chum, catching up with him about his recent train ride, when suddenly there were more trains to explain, related to an occasion just over a month away. So many people, seated on cars rising rails, with so many destinations to reach, so much wind in their sails.

A real eighth-house day, starting and continuing out the door and over to the copy place, throwing documents around before sending them south. Then hot chocolate and browsing, pickup of several items and a necessary hard reset after lunch before a pleasant fade into companionable end-stage downtime.

Two years ago, I was frantically packing boxes and blankets up and ruefully throwing out clothes and papers out in a run-up to a move. This year, the move came first. But it makes sense, because it’s all different now. Maybe I am too, blacking out numbers I don’t have to use for scribbled ones.

I don’t know if things are different, but different things than before are happening near me. Greeting someone I’d followed in person in a positive context, that’s cool and not at all everyday. Then another random number texting for interaction, on the heels of last week’s shenanigans: not everyday.

Up late last night, barely able to stop gripping the desk after chasing details, then out like a light and up, almost refreshed. Mostly home, bidding a beloved duvet goodbye before blitzing a mall, overpaying for parking, and finally getting a Big Needful taken care of, then feeding other necessaries.

I’m walking the floor while it’s quiet, pacing out the minutes and hours between the necessary phone calls and emails, the lookups, and then thinking of the floor when I’m out on the street, out of my car and into restaurants and markets, asking folks what they’re willing to say and get it all right.