Recipe for a Sunday in Twelve Thousand Steps Ingredients: 236 minutes of broken sleep, poorly sifted 1 domestic morning, room temperature Small hands (2 pair), unwashed 1 cup, whole, then 0 cups, spilled Tears (variable yield) Laughter (will form naturally if left alone) 3 house paint swatches, colours undecided 8.64 km of coastal path, cut into diamond shapes Scattered clouds, approx. 20° 1 episode of drama, oversized, expanding to fill all available containers Frustration to taste Method: Combine the broken sleep with the morning. Do not attempt to smooth. Fold in the small hands gently until the cup inverts itself. Let the tears curdle into laughter over low heat. When the mixture threatens to rise, walk. Walk until the landscape has absorbed what the house cannot hold. At the 12,409th step, stop. You will know because the clouds will have rearranged themselves into something that looks like permission. Return home. Spread the paint swatches across the kitchen table. Choose nothing yet. The choosing is tomorrow's recipe. Serve the evening to anyone still awake. Garnish with reassurance. Yield: one day, fractured but whole. Prep time: a lifetime. Cook time: 24 hours exactly. Chef's note: If the drama has eaten the day, the day was not lost. The day was eaten. There is a difference.