1. Morning walks. Darker and cooler, more brown and gold and red. I took a LOT of pictures and a few short videos of the river to share.

2. Our garden. This weekend, I made more tomato jam and bread & butter pickles. I’m appreciating everything we are harvesting right now, because we’ve got a few wacky days coming up in our weather forecast that might mean the season is over sooner than we expected.

3. Yard time. Our backyard is mysteriously still looking like a golf course even this late in the year. The only “lawn care” we do is water and mow it, because it’s really just outdoor dog carpet (and toilet), but I think the neighbors trees have gotten so much bigger in the last few years, protecting it during the hottest part of the day, that it has really thrived this year. It makes me happy, especially since we spend so much time back there, more now than ever.

4. Cooking. I’m so glad my mom took the time to teach me the basics of how to cook. Making pickles was a new one for me. It was fun and they turned out yummy, so I’ll be doing that again. I also made bran muffins this week. Ringo loves those too, as you can tell by how he waited in the kitchen until they cooled off so he could “haz” some. 5. My tiny family. Ringo has some razer burn on his front leg where they shaved it to put in the IV when he got his teeth cleaned. He’s been licking it more than he should, so he’s been having to wear a bandage. All our dogs have been so good about letting us do what we need to for them, but it really hurts Ringo’s feelings to have to wear a wrap. He also doesn’t like it when Eric is in a meeting and he can’t be in it with him. Other than that, his life is pretty much perfect. Bonus joy: sitting in the sauna with Eric, writing and hanging out with Mikalina, a massage with Dana and the jam she gave me, texting with my mom and brother, listening to podcasts, watching TV, having the laundry done, pay day, things that remind me of Sam, black walnut ice cream, clean sheets, getting in the pool, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.