November 18 This little diary was supposed to be a miniseries. It was supposed to document and process some of the particulars of my view of COVID-19, an event classified as a global pandemic. An event which, like the death of the sun, I supposed would happen eventually, but not in this lifetime. But the…
June 8 On the way to the shop, I get stuck behind a school bus. It annoys me, until I realize this is the first school bus with flashing red lights I've seen in months. At the coffee shop, I see a familiar line of three-year-olds emerging from the preschool next door. It has been…
May 29 My family has gone away to a cabin for a long weekend to celebrate Kate's birthday. It's sweet to be away, but sad and eerie that everything is closed. We can hike in the woods and cook together, but when we go into town, there's a heaviness in the air. What if locals…
May 10 For two months, I have been within an hour of home, but I haven't spent more than 30 minutes there. "Home," I guess, is shorthand for the house near Green Lake in Seattle where I pay rent and live with seven women and keep my art and dried beans. I’ve stopped in two…
April 28 Here's a weird habit I'm picking up in quarantine: obsessing over my body. I blame it on having so much extra time, but I will stare at myself in the mirror until I'm sick of it. I vacillate between profound delight and violent indifference over how I look at different angles, in different…
April 27 After a five-week-long closure, my coffee shop is scheduled to open on May 5. I miss my coworkers and I miss my routine, but I don't know if I can return, because I don't know where I'll spend the night. I have two options: Commute 50 miles from Puyallup to Seattle. That means…
April 11 Tomorrow is Easter. I've still only been reading the Bible for Lent. I'm halfway through Ezekiel. But tomorrow, I'll finally start reading other books, too. It's about time. As good as it is to read the Bible, it's not easy. My favorite book I've read the last couple months is Ecclesiastes. Some of…
April 1 Here are my people: Matt, my boyfriendMichael, his housemateStephen, his housemateMomDadDavid, my brotherAshley, my sister-in-lawDahlia, their kidKate, my sisterJosh, her boyfriend That actually seems like too many. Is that too many? I don't know how to cut out any more. April 2 The governor extended the stay home order through May 4. And…
March 20 At the coffee shop, I tend to yell "take care" as customers exit as a way of saying, Get outta here, pal. But now, I say "take care" to say, I charge you to guard yourself and your loved ones, lest you get a disease deceptively comparable to the flu, which will at…
March 13 Last night I drove down to my childhood home in Puyallup, where David and Ashley and the baby were hanging out with Mom. The mood was weird and dismal. We all talked about how we were nervous. But also, it was okay and it got better it was good to be together. Apparently…
February 29 Matt and I went to dinner at his friends’ house so we could hammer out details for the Philippines trip in May. Everyone is on board and we almost have the locations nailed down. We just need to buy the tickets. One of the friends works for Amazon like Matt, and she said…
Chelsea the Writer 