I'm taking a little break from filling boxes and taking down pictures and wrapping delicate things in newspaper to watch the DNC convention via streaming video (since I don't have a TV.) In three days, a truck is going to come, and take all of my stuff away, to go to California. The next day, I drop Ruth off at the airport, and embark on my solo journey across country. I'm really looking forward to the trip. I'm thinking of it as part retreat, part vision quest, part liminal experience. It's a good thing I love to drive (Ruth doesn't).

On August 28th, a truck will come and take all of my stuff away, to go to California. It seems unreal, somehow, that it will happen quite so soon. But the date is approaching at a rapid pace. I'm in my standard "moving is chaos" challenging place. I get restless, have insomnia, and indigestion, among other things. It's stressful to move, and it's hard for me to feel grounded and at peace with all of it going on, even though it's all really under control. For me, this emotional state is familiar, having moved so much in the last few years.

Ruth and I are in Cleveland, OH - taking a break from her two-week long residency teaching poetry at Ashland University's MFA writing program. I joined her for the week, and have been doing a bit of work, and a good bit of writing. I'm sitting at a cafe, namely Arabica's cafe, in University Circle. This Arabic was not here when I lived here 20 years ago. There was a single Arabica that had just opened up in Coventry - a fun place to hang out, with people playing chess and go in the back.

This is the Wordle this blog made: It's kinda cool. Check out the tool.