The Third Thing

Normal Life Field Report #5

3 Cures For The Void

Sep 26, 2025

Location: Couch corner in early morning darkness, Grand Junction, CO
Date: 9/25/25
Weather: CRISP
Vibes of the month: Cures for the void

It feels like I’m finally catching my breath after a summer that felt like a strobe light that wouldn’t turn off. It was a summer of one commitment after another. It was a summer that passed like a freight train—all at once and ceaselessly.

Now the mornings are dark and cool and Tex and I finish our rides as night settles over the arena by 7:30pm. I can see the long hairs of his shaggy winter coat coming in despite a few straggler 80-degree days still hanging on in our desert valley.

Yes, I’ve already made pumpkin bread. And pumpkin polenta. And braises flavored with red wine and sage. I saw an alert this morning that I-70 is expected to be an utter shit show with all the leaf peepers this weekend and I’m feeling smug over here on the quiet Western Slope. Out my living room window, I can already see a few clumps of yellow in the branches.

With all my recent musings (here, here, and here) I’ve been trying to embody what it means to be a writer and an artist. I’m making more art. I’m attempting to write most days. I’ve played around with calling my day job my “side hussle” because no one can stop me, and it’s a very gratifying—if tiny—act of defiance.

3 Cures For The Void

1. Pottery Playtime

I discovered a tile studio a few blocks from my house that offers what they call “clay playtime” nights where you’re given a little instruction and some guidance, but mostly handed a fat slab of clay and told to have fun with it.

I’ve made a bowl and a monstera pot holder that I’m pretty proud of and also one absolute mess of a piece that failed spectacularly.

2. River Playtime