Ten.One Thousand, Four Hundred & Forty-Two

1. Loud frogs.

2. Still quiet. Soft light. Enough time for me to curl up in the leather chair and write.

3. But really, I could listen to Elaine and Julia talk all day.

4. Mind is blown over this conversation about grapeseed oil.

5. Focus changes everything.

6. I clean the kitchen because I know I will be too tired to do it when we get back from the game. I should have gone for a walk instead.

7. We watch the map turn red, and the minutes creep up. We’re going to miss the start of the game. I lean back in my seat and thank God that I don’t have to do this every day. How do people do this every day? I’ll stick to my tiny town and 25 miles per hour, thank you very much.

8. “It looks like the desert,” she says—all brown except for those small patches of green. The small patches of green are small vineyard blocks and oak trees.

9. I don’t have a good feeling about this.

10. The drive home is faster and more beautiful due to the golden light from the setting sun. But so much quieter. No one likes to lose.

11. “Doc Rivers said it last night: ‘The pain of losing can motivate you to win. But the will to win has to be stronger than the pain of losing.’”