Goodbye as Hello
As I scooped the litter box, Rafiki stood on my windowsill, gazing down upon me in both illness and vigilance, waiting. I cried as I scooped, making every promise that I would be the dad he deserved and that he would have clean litter every day — promises unkeepable but made knowing that, were the universe to create some chains that did tie me to that burden, that I would hold it, groaning but grinning. The fullness of the moment’s silence struck me through the sound of the clay granules shifting under plastic scoop. It was 3 AM and I was alone. I called down the hall. “Hey Google. Play music.” What came next is something of a mystery to me. Opening Spotify on my phone yielded a fresh, paused moment. Nothing playing. And yet Google said, “Playing Spotify.” Music began to hum from the speaker while my phone remained paused. I had to Shazam the songs to create the playlist below -- where it was residing before that, what data the speaker referenced to build the playlist, will ...