Stuff I Like

White shirts: T-shirts, button downs, eyelet. I like white shirts. Ironed crisp with starch and steam.

Black pen ink on white paper.

Sharp pencils, apple cider, old-fashioned chalk and chalkboards, fountain pens, Djembe drums, old-fashioned suitcases with straps, records on record players, a tattoo of the name of someone you love.

Silver over gold, cash over credit, truth over lies.

Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker, Dove bar soap, Cocoa Butter lotion, Booth's bath oil.

Eggs from my own chickens, fruit off my own trees and veggies out of my own garden.

Paying bills on time, going without instead of paying on credit, composting instead of landfilling, making instead of shopping, listening instead of talking.

High heels, pencil skirts, the smell of books, the word "homework", the word "loyal", the word "friendship".

People who still send handwritten letters, people who laugh at the same things at the same time with me, people who like to learn things.

Going to bed by 9:30 on a school night.

Getting up before dawn to work out.

Meeting the day with courage. And if not courage then with anger enough to stand in for it. And enough to go around for my students as well.