Dear Wigleaf,

My therapist has me imagine anxiety-producing social situations while I drum my knees left and right, left and right, and it helps, though I get distracted whenever I focus on the rhythm of my hands. A drum teacher once told me to draw sound out from the head of the snare instead of forcing it in. I've been revisiting "Fell on Black Days" by Soundgarden and I love how Matt Cameron's drums navigate the storm of Kim Thayil's riffs. I'm writing this on a bench in the park on my notes app as I rest from a morning run. Running is drumming your body over the world. A gray-bearded motorcyclist just rumbled past staring right at me until I looked away and when I looked back I saw the big American flag quivering behind his bike. It's a humid late-summer day. The sky is gray. Wind cools off my knees. My head feels full of weather. It's good to be here.

Thank you for listening,
Joe