Motivated mostly by embarrassment and shame, I mowed the front lawn tonight. In the dark. I decided to do this a few minutes before 7 p.m. Clouds to the west threatened to steal what little sunlight remained. There was less gas in the lawn mower than there was light in the sky. I had to rush to the gas station to buy two gallons of gas. [Do you know how much money two gallons of gas cost? What do people do? Sell their plasma before they go to the pump?]

So I mowed in the dark. I have no idea what my yard looks like, but it must look better than when I started.

I hope I don’t raise my kids the same way I mow my yard. Motivated by shame and embarrassment, going this way and that with no clear direction … not quite sure what they’ll look like tomorrow morning.