19 August

I show up to the Lake House as I usually do, underslept and underpacked, to spend a couple days with my baby brother before he leaves again for Liberal Arts College. Upon arrival, Dante tells me that he’s re-organized the bowls, that plastic plates can’t be put in the microwave and that the fizz-less half empty can of monster sitting on the top shelf of the fridge he is saving for later. Mom and Dad have been out of town and in their absence he’s been running the kitchen like the navy.

After the banter we sit in silence on the deck listening to the rustle of the leaves and the faint ring of Rick Springfield from a boat speaker far away. Dante gazes out at the water, back at the house and again at the yard. The impending change of season brings succession to the mind. He asks me what changes I want made when one day the house is his.

I tell him that that thought is morbid and plus I can’t think about spear heading home improvements. We settle on fantasy. I want a Lenny Kravitz Paris pied-à-terre level club room in the basement. Dante wants a bigger bathroom. He tells me how he does his part to hold the house down while the others are away. How Dad has been teaching him how to man the grill. How Dante now knows when steak is medium rare just from the touch. How he’s been locking all the doors at night and has aspirations to take on more maintenance of the house.

He asks me what I’m doing tomorrow. I run him down an innumerable wish list of abstract things to accomplish that starts with “purchase portable scanner” and ends with “finish autofiction screenplay”. I return the question. He tells me that he’s busy but that he might find some quality time for us to share in the afternoon.

Tomorrow comes and I abandon my to do list in favor of a Dante ride along. These are my observations.

Dante’s Summer Schedule

8am wake up

8-8:15am Aimless scrolls and checking for morning cheekbones

8:15- 8:40 Watch masculinity affirming Instagram Reel Content

8:40-9:20 Morning skincare (cetaphil gentle foaming cleanser followed by application of whipped beef tallow)

9:20- 9:35 Morning flexing in front of the full length (checking for quad definition and calf density)

9:45am Enter the kitchen wearing over the ear headphones to prepare breakfast

10am Prepare breakfast ( ½ pound ground beef, 5 eggs seasoned to taste with chick-fil-a sauce + yogurt, honey and berries) *when cutting*

10-10:30am Eat breakfast wearing over the ear headphones watching instagram reels video essays on WWII

10:30- 11:35am Digest and tend to snap streaks

11:35am Start preparing for gym

12pm Continue preparing for gym + announce impending departure for gym

12:15pm Collect more things to put in a duffle bag to prepare for gym

12:30pm Prepare pre workout beverages (cocktail of beet juice, anti-stim pre workout, sugar free redbull and liquid IV)

12:45pm Announce that he is leaving for gym

1pm Sit in his car in the driveway and queue 12 minutes of Lana Del Ray

1:05pm Leave for gym

1:17- 3:30pm Spend time at the gym (time is distributed unevenly between lifting, making gym bro small talk, scrolling and maintaining mid workout snaps)

3:45pm Afternoon outing (Smoke Shop for Zyns, synthetic protein emporium or CVS to replenish skin care products)

4:30pm Indulge in a late lunch of Chipotle or Primos Deli Burrito

5-Sundown Tan and re-read underlined passages in Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

8:30pm Prepare and eat dinner (½ ground beef or steak, rice and a light salad)

9:15pm Late night walk with a backpack full of dumbbells + facetime with the boys

10pm Call Mom with questions. No answer. Call Dad with questions. Receive no satisfactory answers.

11pm lights out

All this, and one day soon, Dante will have to find a time to pencil in "operate irrigation” and “fix septic” some time in the late afternoon.