Finally Fall
We’ll remember these days, I think. The humid heat of Hotlanta summer gave way to fall almost overnight. Leaves crisped when the evenings dropped to 50 degrees, and we are wearing sweaters again. I don’t want to live anywhere where I can’t wear sweaters and flannels and my shearling-lined boots. I almost thought that was Atlanta, but apparently, this state is tolerable now. We’ll remember these days, I think, when we both work from home, me in the future nursery and L in the guest room/office/storage room. We take twice-a-day walks and sometimes hold hands, sometimes link arms, but always marvel at the cool breeze coming through. Whether it’s because of the hurricane rolling up the coast, I don’t know. It feels like we are in a completely different state. The neighbors’ lawn decorations spring up like literal graveyards each morning– plastic tombstones, giant inflatable cats, animatronic demon babies, and bloody clowns hanging from trees. Skeletons in all manner of poses– sitting on the lawn waving at passerby, arranged on Adirondacks around a fire pit, on a front porch holding (what else?) a demon baby in its arms. I’m sensing a theme here. The squirrels have renewed their furried frenzy, darting back and forth in front of moving vehicles to secure their nut hoards. Most of the mosquitoes seem to be gone, although we haven’t dared venture into the particularly woody areas yet. We haven’t seen a snake in weeks. Even the bird and monarch traffic has slowed. Perhaps nature is finally taking a rest. I think we’ll remember these days. We went apple-picking last weekend and this weekend spent a potluck afternoon on a back patio with her coworkers. We’ve driven up and down Atlanta to check out the Targets and Home Depots. We’ve been to ob/gyn appointments and found the best donuts. We’ve shared some failures and some successes. L said to me the other day that it will be the last three months where it’s just the two of us, after being just the two of us for almost twenty years. I still haven’t gotten over that comment. It’s a sobering thought. But I think soon, it will be the three of us, and we will feel like it has always been the three of us.
There’s a lot going on these few months. I’m still working on my non-fiction book and am now in the process of querying agents. I gave myself a month to finish the proposal, and I’m happy to report that I met my own deadline. I’m still writing for Baseline Med, Doximity (first article due out this month) and now will be writing for GoatPol (so cool, you have to check it out!). In addition, I’m editing some pieces for my writing group friends on Medium. Also, someone told me that I have to be on TikTok, so I got over my TikTok-phobia (so far, there are no videos of me dancing), but one of my hemorrhoid bander demonstration videos got 10k views. A couple of things I realized about TikTok– the video editing is actually way easier and more intuitive than Reels on Instagram. Second, people want 15 seconds of content. Not a minute and a half of me droning on and on. It’s interesting to me; it’s both a blessing and a curse. I think there’s a lot of crappy information on TikTok, and I want to dispel all these myths that are pertinent to my field and share actual valid information. I don’t know how we got to a stage in society where everyone wants a ‘quick fix’ or a hack. Like, if you can make your life better in fifteen seconds, it must be better for you? The only thing I can say is, good things take time, right? We put in the work to reap the rewards. There’s no hack for hemorrhoids or constipation or cancer, I can tell you that.
Also, I’m trying to revamp my website for like the eighth time, and there might be further rebranding as well. I’m in a program called Fundamentals of Leadership in Diversity, which aims to help future (surgeon) leaders promote more diverse and inclusive organizations. So far, it’s awesome. I’ll be doing another virtual shadowing for high school students for Ratio 21. And, there might be an intriguing surprise at the end of this month… I want to hold it close for now and by next month, you’ll see how it pans out.
That’s it for now.
Don’t forget to make sure you can vote!
Until next time, always go black tie!
