August

1: setting the bar low on a very slow day and exceeding our goals
2: multicolored berries hanging like a string of lights over the creek
3: an interlude of sun in the midst of rain
4: dogs in dreams
5: embracing the music (facing the rain)
6: rolling a piece of lumber across a sketchy bridge using little logs underneath
7: signing each other's pants on the last day of work
8: breakfast of granola & blueberries in yogurt while filling out end-of-season surveys in a Starbucks
9: the giddy loopiness of being high
10: prepping for da club on our last night together
11: when one of the songs in a DJ's set is a remix of a tune our friend would always reference
12: queuing up new tunes
13: grocery-shopping with healthy* meal ideas in mind
14: first snaps
15: little bro's sketch idea for my tattoo
16: when a book alternately makes you laugh out loud and tugs at your heartstrings
17: walking through the desert - and looking over the city - in the stormy dusk
18: Frasier to distract me from stinging, stabbing tattoo pain
19: the crew's approval and excitement over the crosscut tattoo
20: another cute 'n' sweet Kasie West audiobook (now I've read all her novels!)
21: anecdotes about our crew leader
22: remembering + reliving the sexual tension between two characters in a previously-read-and-thoroughly-enjoyed book
23: a story of summer romance and self-discovery
24: splurging on music
25: binge-watching Rick and Morty with my bro
26: sassy retorts and pessimistic reminiscing
27: being reminded why my obscure and unknown-and-confusing-to-everyone major is important
28: desert déjà vu and the epiphany of belonging
29: wearing an apron (feeling like a real chef)
30: chronicling the low-key dramatic saga of my second experience with weed through captioned selfies
31: Leave No Trace

June & July

1: remembering cringey scenes, songs, and lines from childhood movies
2: when my dad thinks a Beatles song is by Smash Mouth
3: ditching a not-so-gripping book for a much more interesting one
4: saying hi to a horse
5: alternate realities playing out in parallel in Kasie West's Pivot Point
6: making rock art (a tribute to the characters in my story)
7: "misfit" kids befriending a ghost
8: the story of Charity and Sylvia
9: hiking off the beaten path and being wonderfully alone in the wilderness
10: my brother's hilariously dramatic reading of my story
11: Alex Strangelove
12: my dad relating to my weird self-image issues with glasses
13: listening to the Dear Martin audiobook while driving through NM + CO
14: meeting a girl who's on my crew and chatting with her for a while
15: joking and ice-breaker questions with the crew as we drive around, making wrong turns as it gets darker trying to get to our first official campsite
16: going out in the forest and learning how to use the crosscut saw hands-on
17: when the drenched ankles of the pants I'm wearing finally dry (mostly)
18: stepping out of my tent and locking eyes with a deer standing up the hill
19: hiking up the trail with our tools and sawing fallen trees off the path
20: one of my crewmates going wild over the fact that I published a book
21: lilypad lake with a breathtaking view of the snow-capped peaks
22: a civ dinner as a reward for a long work day
23: dozing off under a teepee
24: an afternoon chilling at a quirky coffee shop
25: a cozy car ride of togetherness (getting closer to people I hadn't really talked to before)
26: lost by the lake and bushwhacking with Alan
27: when people have to eat their words at the heartiness of a vegan soup
28: the flowered way
29: watermelon binge while hanging out on the deck of the landowner whose forests we (partially) worked in
30: walking up the road to Starbucks while the others shower

~~

1: sleeping out under a starry, moonlit sky
2: putting down the railroad-tracks foundation for a turnpike
3: eating kettle corn straight from the pot and laughing about random shiz
4: restaurant outing & soccer game to celebrate 4th of July
5: sock wrestling matches
6: giving honest how-I-feel feedback
7: getting rained on when I'm already soaked through from going in the lake
8: touristy apparel as a spare outfit
9: maple french toast bagel
10: a puzzle of rocks
11: valley views from Buffalo Pass
12: quiet conversations and bonding over musicianship in the dimly-lit van
13: the stark contrast between lush & fire-burned forests
14: nude (+ partially nude) photoshoot at a mountain lake
15: composing a song inspired by cuddles under the stars
16: stumbling upon animal bones
17: delving deeper into my jealous feelings to discover my insecurities
18: cool-to-the-touch moist, rotted tree innards
19: calling out to your crewmates down below on the mountain when you're near the end of a long and arduous trail
20: Utah's amazing rock formations
21: nature walk through a slot canyon to a waterfall
22: sharing earbuds & watching BoJack together at the laundromat
23: guesses at my (apparently ambiguous) ethnicity
24: dreaming about Denver
25: introducing the crew to Contact
26: practicing knots on anything we can get a rope around
27: catching up on music while on a computer at the local library
28: enjoying an ice cream cone as I walk along Main Street
29: picnic in the park, sheltered from the rain by a giant tree
30: "Starlight" under starlight
31:  apocalyptic sun red through the haze