Attributions:
This OSJ practice is inspired by One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large (2018, Riverfeet Press) by Métis Storyteller & Poet Laureate of Montana, Chris La Tray. I missed some days this month & it’s okay! 😉
Photo by Lucrezia De Agrò on Unsplash
1/31/26: My favorite things this evening: aroma of fresh popcorn on the stovetop and slow dancing in the kitchen to Van Morrison.
1/30/26: I awoke wanting to feel more expressive in my appearance, and then later through the Microsoft Surface Teams screen interface, with the way I wore my hair today – naturally curly, partially pulled back – very different from my weekday standard, prompted boss lady to comment that it looked awesome & to ask if I’d had my haircut, so maybe next time I will.
1/29/26: Wynter on video talking about her art project cutout of the girl in the room and paper hair and clothes: Because it was so small, the hair was really hard, but I didn’t give up!”
1/28/26: More and more lately in my head I notice me “shoulding” myself and things and with this there is the tightly clenched jaw, so there’s an insight into the quality of my thoughts, and a pattern to unwind.
1/27/26: In the steel sink, the faucet running into the white ice cube tray freshly emptied of frozen elderberry syrup, turned 3 or 4 shades of pink to purple pastels, and I am reminded that Easter is around the corner.
1/26/26: West on Old Reserve, the hawk on the powerpole looks north across the snowy field.
1/25/25: I made up a new word just before going to sleep, mathical, as in “I may not have the best mathical skills, but I have other redeeming qualities”, and I end up laughing so hard I cried.
1/24/26: Our beloved sweet boy turned 8 today, and I marvelled considering this is the longest & deepest relationship I’ve ever had with a canine.
1/23/26: “Resilience is a rhythm” is a line that leapt off the page at me in Michael Hunter’s draft guide this evening.
1/21/26:The little red ceramic heater rattles and blows on the cold damp split wood I just brought in for the firebox.
1/20/26: A disturbing dream left me with this phrase, “Brains over beauty,” some notion I adopted early for safety when I was young.
1/19/26: Drove into Flathead with my boys; it’s funny I don’t miss it, but I guess home is wherever you are.
1/18/26: Made elderberry syrup for the first time.
1/14/26: My cousin, Andy, died in Utah today, and I recall our last text exchange, longer ago than I wish, where I could feel that he meant it when he typed, “I love you.”
1/13/26: I sent a text late today to cousin Paula, for her birthday, and was back on her porch in the dark laughing, a light summer breeze blowing across the desert.
1/12/26: Track sighting, a pair of mountain lions, on our 2-hour walk today.
1/11/26: On the drive home today, a purple-mountain majesty to the east, and on the last ½ mile of our road, the ice is a blue slushie in the shadows.
1/10/26: At dusk winding west, the ice on the road was pink, my head full of work static, and my belly full of a double sized Twix.
1/9/26: A lot going on at work and by Friday, oompf.
1/8/26: The smell of McDonald’s, the sound of dozens of car tires on the wet road, my boots crunching as I make my way across the field of white to the retention pond around 5 pm.
1/6/26: Lots of anxiety after my 1st cup of coffee today, so there was no 2nd cup sweetheart.
1/5/26: Another gift of generous neighbor’s bounty, 15 cups of fresh frozen elderberries.
1/4/26: I thought I’d woken up with a hotflash until, Mike said, no sweetie, it’s not a hotflash I am roasting in here, too.
1/3/26: He shared with me on our morning walk around the hunting loop, “When I walked this last week and came to this very section, the way the light was on the trees was so beautiful it made me misty-eyed.”
1/2/26: The pre-dawn crash of snow falling off the roof had me spring up in bed as I was sure it was another tree crashing to the ground.
sheteststhewater 