Ethel Vol. 1 was a curated collection of essays by female writers from across the country. My piece is about aging, strangers, and running. Not in that order, but in that order of importance.

Beans or no beans. In Texas chili, that is always the question. Boots weighs into the debate with thoughts on what goes into a blue-ribbon bowl, then follows up with advice for someone seeking a haunted house in Waco.

A new Texas resident wonders if people here are embedded with some kind of heat coping device the rest of the world doesn’t get. Boots also dives into the back story of her nickname which may or may not involve Johnny Cash.

Is going to the theater an outdated way to watch movies or the best way to remember we’re all a bunch of humans just trying to make it in this world? Plus, quit your bitchin’ about how hot your pool water is—you’re lucky to have it.

In our world of type, type, typing, there’s a release to be found when we put pen to paper. This mode of expression frees something inside us so that we can go deeper, discover more, and remember the simple pleasures of writing by hand.