Week in Seven Words #584

This covers the week of 3/28/21 - 4/3/21.

foe

In her isolation, she has unraveled. She flails at imagined terrors, as they press in on her from beyond the apartment walls. 

giddiness

Dozens of daffodils swaying by the field.

intermittently

The vaccine website is a test in reflexes. New appointments wink into existence and are just as quickly snapped up.

lukewarm

One book stands out as a suitable gift. But even as I buy it, I get the feeling that it won't inspire enthusiasm.

misty

A rainy haze on the river.

reacquainted

Visiting parts of the park I've neglected for a while, like catching up with old friends. Which trees have fallen, which paths are overgrown, and is the stream still full and flowing?

translated

After creating a video message in another language, I review it multiple times, convinced that I've made a major grammatical error or mixed up two words in an unintentionally filthy way. But it seems OK.

Week in Seven Words #583

This covers the week of 3/21/21 - 3/27/21.

biota

The season begins with crocuses, progresses to turtles.

fending

Spiky seed balls plinking on car windshields and roofs, as if the trees are defending against an invasion.

observing

Interesting to see who comments on the new glasses and who seems not to notice.

skateboarders

Two skateboards. On one, a young man holding a leash. On the other, a bulldog at the end of the leash. They skim along at a relaxed pace, both of them looking cool and poised.

substitutes

Her brain is largely hijacked by alternate realities, other versions of herself that command her thoughts.

superstore

The superstore is a comforting place because it never seems to run out of anything. It promises abundance.

uniformity

They all look like they go to the same hairdresser. Their hair is in the same ponytail, some threaded through a cap. They all wear yoga pants, short jackets, and big sunglasses, and they clutch a coffee in one hand, a phone in the other.

Week in Seven Words #582

This covers the week of 3/14/21 - 3/20/21.

branching

Brown, crunchy, bristling paths, a clear view of buildings through bare trees.

decompress

Her relaxation: Diet Dr Pepper, feet on ottoman, British period drama.

desktop

His desk: cigarette burns, a ball made out of rubber bands, a lamp with an oversized bulb that gets too hot too quickly.

impending

Sometimes it feels like we're on the deck of the Titanic, the music playing as the water rises.

older

Wiser in some ways, more bewildered in others.

protective

The water has been drained from the basin, and a girl slides inside to explore the mud-encrusted bottom. Her dog barks frantically from a nearby bench. It's restrained and can't keep her in sight. It can't protect her from whatever awaits her in the mud and the smashed leaves.

unknitted

Tense muscles seem to break apart slightly in the steam.

Week in Seven Words #581

This covers the week of 3/7/21 - 3/13/21.

ambulate

In the largely empty bookstore, a teenaged boy walks in a slow, wide circle while reading out loud to himself through a mask.

electrifying

A riveting sax solo brings joy to this corner of the park.

iciness

Today, there's frost in their relationship. It keeps their sentences clipped and cold.

institutionalized

Two seals circle the small tank without pause or release, as the demented bells jangle on the hour.

optical

First new pair of glasses in a while, and I like how they look.

sparking

A crackling cloud of seagulls electrified by the promise of food.

tired

Crusty buildings, haggard strip malls. The brownness of late winter and early spring, everywhere brown, waiting to be relieved by flowers, leaves, anything green.

Week in Seven Words #580

This covers the week of 2/28/21 - 3/6/21.

compulsions

We're caught in traps of compulsive behavior – web surfing, phone scrolling, screen watching.

deceptively

What looks like ice on the lake is only the glare of sunlight.

enlarged

The eyes always come out too large in the drawings. Large, placid ellipses.

held

His body shakes with his need to talk, to have someone listen.

liquefy

A land melting into mud and puddles that seem like ponds.

retrospect

Months from now, I sense this worry will seem superficial, a distraction from larger problems.

warmth

A golden retriever finds us as we sit shoulder-to-shoulder on the sunlit bench.

Week in Seven Words #579

This covers the week of 2/21/21 - 2/27/21.

anticipation

Two people at opposite ends of a room. They're holding books, but they aren't reading. When will they talk to each other?

arrangements

It's the first time I've been to synagogue in a year. The room downstairs has been organized into islands of chairs. Some islands have one chair, others two. The service is quieter.

coveting

Birds taking off and landing on the feeders, while nearby a chunky squirrel stares, waiting his chance.

mud

The slip squish of mud. Everywhere mud. Most people grumble, but one kid is discovering the joy of a puddle in a field caked in mud and slush. He's not the one who will be washing his clothes later, which is part of what makes him happy.

protected

Sitting in the pool of warmth from an outdoor heater, the cold air pressing in but pushed back.

skin-deep

Our relationship has cooled from genuine warmth to superficial friendliness.

 

tedious

Tired of online events. The small, detached faces, the audio that fails, the lack of energy, the lure of other browser tabs.

Week in Seven Words #578

This covers the week of 2/14/21 - 2/20/21.

ache

We used to sit in this room with its floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and the lamplight on the red couch.

belly

They don't have sleds, but they do have bellies, so they slide down the hill head first, eyes squinting against the dazzle of sunlight on snow.

glimpses

Beyond the dense branches there's light, white and faintly purple.

moved

The silence of snow falling. At the bus stop, he says a brief prayer.

perching

She's gained access to the roof, and from there, she feeds birds.

unbroken

The fact that I have a good night's sleep is worth commenting on. I don't take it for granted.

wobble

Without his job, his days have turned to jello.

Week in Seven Words #577

This covers the week of 2/7/21 - 2/13/21.

dork

The role she's been asked to audition for is an improbable one: the effortlessly gorgeous, socially awkward female nerd who's such a dork but never really says or does anything unattractive, she's just, you know, a dork with glasses and fashionable heels.

icy

The pond is clinking with ice, the shores crusty with slush and mud.

knotty

I meet him for the first time beside a tree with a heart-shaped knot.

lacework

Low branches turned to lacework by the snow.

mafia

The head and torso of the snowman are propped up on a bench, like a grim warning from the snowman mafia. ("Double-cross us, and you too will be disassembled before you melt.")

timeworn

It's cute how the author thinks that pairing a character in his 60s with a woman in her 20s is edgy.

unhelpful

"My problems," she says, "are about not asking for help when I need it, and getting the kind of help that holds me back."

Week in Seven Words #576

This covers the week of 1/31/21 - 2/6/21.

complaints

As the elevators fail to come for 15, then 20 minutes, I speak to a neighbor from down the hall who's waiting with me. Over the years, our conversation has never gone beyond greetings. Now we talk about how her ceiling is flaking as if it has a bad case of dandruff. And we talk about the pandemic (wouldn't be a real conversation without pandemic talk).

micturating

A dog urinates on the fallen head of a snowman.

pleasant

Sitting with all of them is like hosting a talk show panel. I turn to each, ask questions, and give them time to speak. I serve as a moderator for interruptions and insults. There's no need for me to share anything about myself.

slush

The center of the frozen lake has softened into dark, slushy water, like a pond inside the lake. Some geese are at its gray edges.

snowfall

After the billows of the blizzard, there's a mesmerizing gentle snowfall.

surfeit

They take a shopping bag full of crumbled bread to the lake, and within minutes, a goose-duck metropolis has sprung up around them.

youthfully

After the dog's leg injury, they've set up a ramp for her against the couch. But she still tries to jump on and off, her energy at odds with her body.

Week in Seven Words #575

This covers the week of 1/24/21 - 1/30/21.

crumbs

Instead of buying a pandemic puppy, she has gone outdoors more frequently to feed pigeons, easily summoned by crumbs.

domestic

Through video chat, I've become familiar with the view of his burgundy couch, the cat kneading a cushion before settling in.

ethereal

A special blue-white winter light on bare branches.

pianissimo

A fumbled song on piano keys in an unlit room.

subvert

Heavy metal drives her anxious thoughts away. But they come back in her sleep, bringing her to consciousness on a rising wave of dread.

sweetens

While working, I pick at a platter of figs, apricots, dates, and almonds, and I feel as if there should be palm fronds over my desk.

topiary

He's tried to trim the shrub to look like a cat. It looks like a vaguely feline creature emerging from a terrible green fog. But I like the effort.

Week in Seven Words #574

This covers the week of 1/17/21 - 1/23/21.

barely

Running water in a denuded wood. The bareness makes us wish for a fir or a pine. There's only some greenness – crisp holly leaves by a splintering log.

checkup

His office is comforting and old-fashioned. The sofas are upholstered in blue and yellow, and in a glass case he's arranged a variety of charmingly odd statues. Dust is the dominant smell, with a hint of aftershave. The appointment takes a while, longer than expected, but I'm glad he isn't rushing through it. The results feel more exact.

disturbing

She assumes I slept better because I stayed up reading a book. But the truth is I don't know why I sleep better on some nights and worse on others.

fragrant

The wood chips from different evergreens give off a sweet aroma like mango.

needing

I needed to hear that I have what I need. (Besides trust. I need more trust.)

subject

I don't know what a given conversation will be like. Sometimes, it's about the pandemic and what's happening to the economy. Other times, it's about eggless cake batter and nothing else.

tamed

The heating unit that has been squealing is now purring.

Week in Seven Words #573

This covers the week of 1/10/21 - 1/16/21.

frozen

One chair rests on the ice, and the other two are partly submerged. The ice is thick enough to engulf them, to clutch at them and freeze them in place half-in and half-out of the water.

hopefully

I'm not sure if what I'm doing will make things better. At the very least, I don't think it will make things worse.

jays

I'm glad that I can still be delighted by blue jays. They're clear drops of color in a drab, cold world.

overreaching

Amazing to see people cheering on an ever-broadening censorship from big tech companies, maybe because they think it will never apply to any of their own extremely correct opinions.

squirreled

Testy and tense, a squirrel sits at the fork of two branches with a small stash of nuts. Thieves approach from all sides. In another tree, a squirrel plummets 15 feet and lands unharmed on mushy leaves.

time-traveling

He says his mind is bouncing between past mistakes and dire scenarios that may play out in the future, but he doesn't think much about the present. It doesn't leave an impression on him the way regret and anxiety do.

withdrew

"My social skills are gone," she says, half joking, "and I'm never making plans again."

Week in Seven Words #572

This covers the week of 1/3/21 - 1/9/21.

abed

Tousled hair, face smushed into the pillow, cold air leaking in.

attends

Applying for a job, she wonders how she can make her qualifications look more impressive. "Doesn't fall asleep during Zoom meetings, usually," is a good one.

continue

Stay calm, and keep writing.

friend

Whenever I hear from her, I think about how glad I am that we're friends.

incapacitated

Once seated at the piano, she merely stares at the keys. She doesn't know how to begin, because inside her there's no music, only knots of fear.

morbid

As soon as I start slipping into helpless spectator mode, I try to wrench my attention away from the news.

unsteadily

Buildings in the background, denuded trees in the foreground, and slick muddy paths that make the world wobble.

Week in Seven Words #571

This covers the week of 12/27/20 - 1/2/21.

advisory

As New Year's Day approaches, Duolingo is telling me something: "Fais plus de sport!"

aurora

I look over her shoulder at the computer game she's playing, Heroine's Quest, and I'm enchanted by its artistry. In one scene, the player character goes ice fishing at night against a backdrop of Northern Lights.

fairyland

In the field, a hollow has filled with rain, and it looks magical in the gray light.

glazed

The stalls at the holiday market look like bright glass cubes. Most of them sell warm food, like apple cider donuts, or they display art, jewelry, and pretty knickknacks.

propping

Some of the paintings crackle with life. Others are weak, supported mostly by the jargon in their captions.

quarantine

Thankfully, they're feeling better, but they're still quarantined, their viruses mingling pleasantly.

strains

Musicians try to pump some cheer into lackluster people. Not enough people for a crowd, and still too many businesses closed.

Week in Seven Words #570

This covers the week of 12/20/20 - 12/26/20.

cinnamon

Errands sweetened by puffs of cinnamon-laden wind from the vendors' carts.

frustration

"What's the point?" she asks. "What's the point of learning any of this?" And there isn't an easy answer. Telling her that learning can be good for its own sake would be a glib response.

manifests

With creeping wonder and dread, he realizes that his isolation has made him more like his father.

osculation

Kissing by an arched stone bridge, ducks in a gaggle and the water crisp with ice.

skating

It's easier to talk about books, history, and other topics that aren't deeply personal. I don't often unearth the personal in conversation.

snowman

A towering snowman awaits us on the knoll. The next day, he's still there, looking less robust but still stubbornly upright.

wisecrack

When asked to rate his pain on a scale of 1 to 10, he hesitates before saying, "Pi" (a joke from a TV show he's been watching).

Week in Seven Words #569

This covers the week of 12/13/20 - 12/19/20.

linguistic

An app with a green owl mascot is helping me work on Hebrew writing and French reading comprehension skills.

nurturing

She's painted the walls of her bedroom a dusky pink and hung up drawings of plants, from lianas to roses. The room feels more vital and cozy, as if everything in it is cupped in warm hands.

rebuild

Of the dumb, shattering decisions people make, from which will they recover and to what extent?

silvered

A silver sheen on the lake and leafless trees.

snowing

The park is powdered, the paths slick.

viruses

I'm glad to hear she's feeling better. One virus dominates the headlines these days, but there are still others, like colds, flus, and stomach bugs – miserable, and sometimes very serious. 

warmer

The heat from the candles washes over my hands, and I feel cozier and more content.

Week in Seven Words #568

This covers the week of 12/6/20 - 12/12/20.

anemic

It's a major shopping avenue, and on normal years it would be teeming with people and sparkling with lights and sensational window displays. Now, only one store looks festive. The rest are subdued. It's a pallid celebration.

colder

There are no more turtles in the pond. Only dark, frosty water with ducks.

insights

Increasingly, we talk about interesting lectures he's heard on different Jewish topics. Familiar texts still have a great deal in them that we haven't explored and considered.

riverbank

A walk by the river: joggers, people with strollers and dogs, and, yet again, dead fish glistening belly-up in the water. Later in the week, a milky fog swallows up the river, and the fish are gone.

roly-poly

This is the season of fattening. Of cold and carbs and holiday treats.

seethes

She doesn't realize that the venom of her jealousy keeps them at a distance.

utilize

Minding the gaps: I want to make better use of gaps in my schedule, like the hour between two meetings. What "better use" means would vary from one day to another: answering emails, doing some research, closing my eyes for a short while.

Week in Seven Words #567

This covers the week of 11/29/20 – 12/5/20.

crusty

The basin has been drained. It's encrusted in dirt and leaves like diseased skin.

diving

Wake up in a low, grubby mood. Getting to work immediately helps.

radiance

I love the tree that's still bright yellow, a flame awaiting winter with confidence.

reversal

Waisting, sleeting – two seven-letter words, both last minute, that win her the game.

spying

A drone hovers outside the window. Is it filming us? Where is this boundary-wrecking insectile contraption from?

stomping

They stomp around on a lawn caked in wet fallen leaves. They're ecstatic at the crunching, the crumpling.

wafting

Sometimes, what connects people in these socially distanced times, is the smell of Frosted Coconut Snowball hand sanitizer.