I started to understand

I started to understand what the song could be about. The ache of nostalgia even for things we don’t like, the commitment to keep moving despite that ache. It made me think of how I relate to my privilege – as a white person, as someone who grew up upper middle class. Erin McKeown

They are enthusiasts, devotees.

They are enthusiasts, devotees. Addicts. Something about the circus stirs their souls, and they ache for it when it is absent. They seek each other out, these people of such specific like mind. They tell of how they found the circus, how those first few steps were like magic. Like stepping into a fairy tale … Read more

On Saturday, he ate

On Saturday, he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon That night he had a stomach ache. Eric Carle

As a former football

As a former football player who has carried a football more than 4,000 times, trust me, I did not go into ballroom dancing with my body being 100 percent, with no aches or pains or ailments coming with me. When you’re dancing, you’re doing stuff that your body’s not used to, and so you start … Read more