Returned Upright

A Red Pyle Old English Game rooster with white and red-gold plumage in a tan suede jacket with a shearling collar over a white t-shirt, standing on a rock among desert sagebrush at dawn beside a steel thermos and a folded wool blanket, a single pale vapour trail rising across a pink sky

The Second to Manage It

It went up, did what was asked of it, and came home standing — which is more than he can say for most of his evenings. He has watched it several times now and finds, each time, that he is rooting for the landing rather than the launch.

10 July 2026