Details are my way into an essay. Details that strike me or catch me off guard.
Details like these: the new dog’s snout is currently nestled on the ball of my foot. Is that what it’s called? The part just below the toes? It strikes me that there are several parts of a foot that could resemble a ball, and I can’t say I’ve ever been bothered enough to properly internalize the anatomy of a foot.
I, like everyone and their dog, or perhaps more accurately like everyone and their seven year old son, have recently been diagnosed with ADHD.
For as many times I carried her up and down the stairs over the last year, I didn’t clock the very last one, even though I knew it was her very last morning. I just assumed that her separation anxiety would compel me to carry her one last time for a short sojurn up the stairs, looking for scissors, or making sure the kids brushed their teeth, or retrieving socks.