1. Morning walks. We had a rough one this week with lots of offlead (rude) dogs (people) and a skateboarder that Ringo and Sam decided they hated, but mostly I love that time.

Our view of the foothills during the last mile of our walk

Right before the skateboarder rode by, the calm before the chaos

2. The Colorado sky. It is a particular kind of magic. Last night at a poetry reading by CSU English department alumnus Yusef Komunyakaa, he opened by saying, “I don’t think I would be a poet without being in Colorado. I saw the mountains and couldn’t back down. And the sky…”

3. Sam and Ringo Blue. Oh how I love them. Oh how they can make me crazy sometimes.

Couching

Ringo “helping” me meditate

4. Spring blooms. The cherry trees, our first lilac buds. I’m so happy the snow this weekend didn’t ruin them all.

5. Our department retreat. It was a lot of hard work to plan, but it turned out great. One of the highlights was a Lego model of our remodeled building built by one of our faculty.

Bonus joy: FRIDAY, good friends, poets and poetry, clean water, feeling safe, the music of Prince, a good pen, a blank notebook, the camera on my new phone, the promise of rest, good TV, good food, voices of reason to contradict the crazy, apple and cinnamon oatmeal, sunshine, green everywhere, sleepy dogs, naps, sweet potato and black bean quesadillas, stretching, summer vacation so close I can smell it.