we shared the side of the road

March 24, 2020 by Brooke Black in writing

When you live on the side of the road, you see all the shit people throw out of their cars.

the storm

March 17, 2020 by Brooke Black in writing

I grabbed hold of the wall and held it still enough to peer through the bug netting, and that’s when the pieces clicked into place: A massive cloudbank was charging over the lake, and the trees were bowed over in the roaring wind.

leaving chicago

March 10, 2020 by Brooke Black in writing

I cried openly on a boulder on the side of a crowded bike path while eating two cinnamon-chip scones.

how to live your dream

March 03, 2020 by Brooke Black in writing

Your life is a lucid dream that you are free to shape and explore in any way you like. And once you’ve lived one dream, the others don’t seem as far out of reach.

ghost stories

February 25, 2020 by Brooke Black in writing

It may surprise you to learn that I, a woman with a shaved head who is riding a bike across the country to try to convince an Ivy League school to give a full scholarship to an African Muslim, disagree with Trump’s politics.

the greatest day

February 18, 2020 by Brooke Black in writing

As a kid, I didn’t understand why my parents liked the morning. It felt awful to be awake that early, like drowning in brownie batter. But now I understand. It is a sacred time of day. Pure potential. Anything could happen. Why, it could even be the greatest day of your life.

niagara

February 11, 2020 by Brooke Black in writing

Even though I grew up in the Northeast, this was a tourist attraction that had managed to escape me. Turns out to see it, I had to bike all the way from south of the Mason-Dixon line.

the serial killer

February 04, 2020 by Brooke Black in writing

I fall into a restless sleep…

…and wake up at 2 a.m. to the sound of a dentist’s drill outside my tent.

“the computer dog”

January 28, 2020 by Brooke Black in writing

You might think that on a long solo pilgrimage, you experience profound thoughts about, like, god or human nature or something. Sometimes that’s true. But other times, you conduct a comprehensive exploration of all the alphabetic permutations of the phrase “The Computer Dog.”

what it’s like to ride in a car with me

January 21, 2020 by Brooke Black in writing

“Rob, I get to choose the music.”