One function of my practice of writing a daily American Sentence is as a journal. I will go back to these not for the literary merit, but to remind myself of life’s little trials and twists. Having a baby. Having a hernia. Not being able to pick up a baby because of a hernia. Having a medical team from the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Mexico, Nashville and elsewhere help repair a hernia. Having a cat start to drop fur in hunks around the house. Thinking about hernia surgery. Seeing hernias in the sky. News stories in downtown Seattle and at O’Hare in my hometown. Having a baby who likes to put hunks of cat fur in her mouth. Seeing what kinds of food can go into a baby’s mouth and the facial expressions that result. (I remember taking a picture of Rebecca after giving her straight cranberry juice for the first time.) A trip to Doe Bay. Weird shit from dreams and not enough syllables (or desire) to mention they are dreams sometimes.

The permanent link for 2013 American Sentences is here:
https://paulenelson.com/american-sentences-2/american-sentences-2013/

but here are a few of my faves so far this year:

1.3.13 – When feeding she reaches for the biggest thing in the sky – her father’s nose.

1.12.13 – Zappa’s fur is not getting matted and falling off – feline dreadlocks.

1.15.13 – Eighteen human heads found at O’Hare Airport have nothing to declare.

1.20.13 – (Downtown Seattle) “He wasn’t served coffee however ‘cuz he was bleeding from the head.”

1.23.13 – Ella’s diet: bananas, rice, almond butter and feline dreadlocks.

1.25.13 – Fed Ella bbq to get the feline dreadlock taste out of her mouth.

1.26.13 – His headlights escape Lake Washington Boulevard one tree at a time.

1.28.13 – I sneeze, Mer says: “That’s the kind of thing that’s gonna blow out your stitches.”

2.6.13 – West Seattle on California we pass by the Psychic Barber.

2.10.13 – 15th & Spring – utility directions sprayed into sidewalk moss.

2.19.13 – Bad idea to ask a guy with a hernia: “How’s it hangin’?”

2.26.13 – The winter fly died trying to get inside the disposable diaper.

2.28.13 – What’s that sagging from Orion’s belt, does he have a hernia too?

3.1.13 – Nurse Luz asks: “Do you have any body piercings? – “not that I know of.”

3.2.13 – Yesterday my check-in nurse was Luz, my check-out nurse Pun – Light/Laughter.