June 3rd, 2017 was a blisteringly hot day in Georgia. Sweat was dripping off my nose and pooling at the small of my back, so much that even a lenient homeowner’s association would demand that I encircle it with a safety fence.
I thought that I felt a sense of calm, somehow straddling the barrier between chaos and order, but in reality the insatiable price for my faux-chillness was constant action, movement, and conversation. I took my brother and one of my best friends on a five mile hike. I consumed close to a pound of fettuccine alfredo.