sunday

Detroit Zoo, Royal Oak, MI

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced here, in Michigan, an autumn as stunning as this one. Some combination of geography, weather-induced leaf sugars, and Rufus being almost sixteen months old (yes, already). I’m out more during blue hours and golden hours – pack walks in the mornings, afternoon pickups on daycare days when the low angle light catches the tops of trees, afternoon outings when the sunset hits the downtown skyscrapers near the newly opened park on the river.

I have no good pictures. At least not any that do the moments justice.

Julia and I were talking, the other day, about things that either fill our well or drain it. That are, in her words, Rest or Rot. The same activity can be both depending on the context. TV is a good example: When we take a break after a long workday to rewatch an episode of The Witcher (as we are currently doing) it gives our introverted selves a moment to recover before having any sort of more meaningful conversation. Even the occasional series binge can be energizing when it strengthens our bond. But when it becomes too much of a routine and takes lieu of other types connection, it’s rot.

Alcohol is another example: A drink for the taste of it, with a good meal, or in a celebratory way, can fill the well. But taken too often in a stress-drink kind of way, ROT.

As I type this I wonder how much rot is just rest hardened into habit.

Here’s a thing that happens somewhat regularly: I’ll write about something here, like a book I’ve been reading or an app I’ve been using successfully, and after I send out the newsletter, I immediately abandon the book or stop using the app. Most recently, the novelty of Opal, mentioned in issue #447, has shriveled away. I turned off my scheduled blocks for a couple of weeks because I was too often ignoring them.

Maybe it’s my inner rebelliousness and not wanting to get pinned down, or just how quickly my excitement about anything tends to wane. But distraction is also a Whac-A-Mole game. In this analogy, various apps, minimalist launchers, visual timers, bullet journals, and other productivity tools and systems, are each swings at a different hole from which it can rear its grinning, taunting heads.

Which seems to suggest that playing the game with any amount of success is more about reacting quickly than repeatedly bashing the same empty hole.

November’s Digital Mending Circle is tomorrow (Tuesday), the 11th, from 7:30–9:00pm Eastern. For new readers, this is our monthly

virtual co-working session for the kinds of oft-neglected maintenance tasks that accrue around our digital lives. Instead of darning socks and patching jeans, we update personal websites, delete unused accounts, work on side projects, or even just catch up on email.

Hit reply if you want to join and don’t already have the Zoom link. I’ll be tagging and organizing videos of Rufus.

Jack

Nov 10 2025