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.