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Fall is my favorite season. The summer heat finally packs up and leaves, and cooler weather slides in like a welcome relief. Hoodies return, pumpkins appear everywhere (sometimes in places they really don’t belong), and—most importantly—football season takes over. Sure,… more ›
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I got to thinking about friendships recently—not the surface kind, but the ones that quietly (and sometimes loudly) shape who we are. I’m not even sure what sparked it. Maybe it was the long road trips to gigs and the… more ›
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There are days when I simply cannot think of anything to write. Writer’s block isn’t just the absence of words—it’s a heavy stillness, like standing in a quiet room where nothing moves. You sit there, pen in hand or cursor… more ›
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Being a mariachi musician, you learn that every gig carries its own rhythm. But this one—this was different. It was more than performing alongside a star.More than shaking the hand of someone people call a legend.It was… everything. The day… more ›
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I’ve been an educator for 25 years.The first day of school has always been important—Always special.Always something to celebrate. But 17 of those 25 years carried a different kind of weight.Because for 17 years, I got to share that first… more ›
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Ahhh, sweet slumber. The kind where your body finally stops twitching from yesterday’s chores and the blanket has molded perfectly to your shape. I’m out cold, dreaming of nothing, floating in pure bliss. Then it begins. A faint sound. Far… more ›
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A funny reflection about my reflection. We all have that voice in our heads—the one we consult when making decisions, psyching ourselves up, or talking ourselves out of regrettable choices. Sometimes it’s calm, sometimes it’s nagging, and sometimes it’s downright… more ›
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Food has a way of doing what nothing else can: it gathers us, roots us, and reminds us who we are. In our family, meals were never just about eating. They were the soundtrack of our childhood, the punctuation marks… more ›
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It’s been almost a year since she left us, and some days it still feels like the world paused in that moment. I remember the quiet that filled the house afterward, a silence so deep it pressed against my chest.… more ›
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There was a time when the only thing that mattered was whether you could catch the ball. The sun burned hot on your back, the grass smelled like summer and sweat, and the popsicle you dropped three minutes ago was… more ›
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Ahhhh… the first day of school. The crown jewel of the academic year. And this time, it comes after professional learning. Two glorious, soul-crushing days where you learned… well, you’re still not entirely sure what you learned. Icebreakers, slide decks,… more ›
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When you hear “summer camp,” you might picture kids whisked away in vans, lugging haphazardly packed duffel bags, shipped off to some far-flung campground for a summer of “character building” and kumbaya bonding. Well… yeah—if you’ve watched enough movies, that’s… more ›
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Growing up, summer in Calexico had its own soundtrack—somewhere a screen door slammed, a dog barked three streets over, and a radio played Ramón Ayala so faintly you couldn’t tell if it was next door or two blocks over. The… more ›
Mariano Velez
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