Ceiling Lights, Smoothie Fights, and the Gospel of a 12-Minute Sketch

Waiting for my next DoorDash ping, I sketched Tropical Smoothie Café from my place in the Pizza Hut parking lot like it was a cathedral of caffeine. Twelve minutes, one fineliner, a couple of Tombow brushpens and a smidge of watercolor pencil. Art heals. Smoothies help. Lowe’s… not so much.

Monday morning. 7:30 a.m.

The coffee hadn’t kicked in, and neither had the hope.

I was parked in Lynchburg, phone lit up, and DoorDash tossed me a curveball: a pickup at Lowe’s.

Now, I’m new enough to this gig to think, “Maybe Lowe’s sells biscuits now?” A logical leap in a world where Walgreens stocks frozen burritos and shampoo. But alas, no gravy was involved.

What was involved?

Nine very large ceiling lights.

Plus boxes of mounting hardware.

Plus my Honda Fit.

Now, I don’t know who at Lowe’s decided to send this architectural payload out via a 69-year-old watercolorist in a subcompact car, but they didn’t tip. That’s right: $0. No “Thanks for hauling your spine to a construction site.” No “Here’s a buck for your trouble.” Just fluorescent abandonment.

Turns out, the order wasn’t even placed by the customer—it was Lowe’s corporate. They used DoorDash like it was a local pack mule service.

But I made it fit. Of course I did. I’m an architect. I engineer absurdity.

And after delivering those lights to a Pizza Hut still under construction (very kind foreman, by the way), I headed to Tropical Smoothie Café to cool off—and sketch. I parked, pulled out my kit, and caught the place in ink before the next gig pinged through.

Twelve minutes.

A full watercolor mood.

Slightly sweaty triumph.

This is my life now:

Spiritual sketcher. Ink-stained DoorDasher.

Sometimes hauling drywall. Sometimes just hauling truth.

If this made you smirk, sigh, or whisper “Oh honey,” consider tossing something in the Slightly Feral Sketcher Fund:

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It keeps me sketching, laughing, and saying yes to the next absurd adventure.