1. Morning walks. Each day, the darkness lasts for a few more minutes than the day before. This week we saw deer, a beaver, a heron, and something coming towards us in the dark — two glowing eyes, about the height of a fox, cat, or even a coyote, coming fast until we stopped and I yelled and it turned off the path. This is the time of year we need to be really careful because there are bears, and with the wild fires, there have also been moose and cougars, not anything you want to run into in the dark, if at all. As much as I hate not having Sam, I am enjoying walking just one dog, which is so much easier.
Heron
Beaver
2. Wild Writing with Laurie. We started a new season this morning. Some of my favorite people in the whole world were there. I still shake my head and smile when I think how ridiculous I was, thinking I could do without this practice, this teacher, these people.
3. Practice. I can say with certainty that without it, I wouldn’t still be here. The foundation I cultivated over the past 12 years; in particular the trio of meditation, yoga asana, and writing; has saved me, again and again.
4. Good food. One of my favorite things since retiring, and in particular during the lockdown of the pandemic, is cooking and eating good food. This week I made what’s most likely the last of this season’s pickles, because we probably won’t be getting many more cucumbers, and peanut butter cookies, (if you have a good recipe for chewy peanut butter cookies, post the link in the comments or send me an email). I braved meeting a friend for tacos at a place with a big open outdoor area this week, only the third time I’ve eaten food someone outside our house made and the first time I stayed and ate on site, and while I loved seeing her and the tacos were so good, it still felt so weird and risky.
5. My tiny family. Eric left me kitchen counter love notes in two locations this week — one where I see it when I come out to get my phone, and a second bonus one with the coffee to surprise me later in the morning when I made a cup. Ringo got a new toy, a possum, and he loves it. It’s so weird how both Obi and Sam could have cared less about toys, but both Dexter and Ringo fell so in love with each new stuffed, squeaky baby. It’s both the sweetest and saddest thing ever how he keeps curling up on Sam’s couch. One of my favorite things to do with Ringo to remember Sam is to “sing,” which Sam did but wasn’t very good at and Ringo loves so much.
Bonus joy: getting to see Mikalina THREE times this week, seeing Carrie in person, Chloe’ being back from her travels so I could finally give her the birthday present I bought her (and she loved it, just like I knew she would), texting with my mom and brother, Friday which weirdly still has that same end of the week feel even though I’m retired, fall because it’s my favorite season, black walnut ice cream, getting in the pool, sitting in the infrared sauna with Eric, grocery pick-up, finally deciding what to do with our third car that we don’t need anymore (we are donating it to Eric’s school so the students in the auto repair program can use it to learn stuff, to practice on — my dad’s a mechanic, so this makes me extra happy), falling golden leaves, long naps, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 
As always, thank you!
I hope whatever book it is you are writing ( I can’t wait!) that it includes love notes from Eric. And if not, please write a 2nd book 🙂 with them. Somehow, knowing the love notes are yours, they still put a song in my heart. With gratitude to both of you.
P.S. the flagstone path…pure magic…
Oh, “Love Notes” — that’s an idea. 🙂 I’ll have to remember it was originally yours and give you credit.
I love that he leaves you love notes… oh my, my heart…! Also all the photos of Ringo were adorable, esp the singing ones. (And sleeping ones).
When he was working from home all the time, I missed them, but now he’s back in his campus office twice a week — maybe that’s why he doubled up, because I don’t get as many 🙂
Somehow I feel Ringo has grown up and become a big boy since Sam died. He looks poignant in some of his photos… mature, grounded, and maybe a bit sad all at the same time. I ALWAYS love your Friday posts; maybe your composing them contributes to why Fridays still seem Friday-ish to you! Thank you for your consistency in posting them!
Two things are certainly true about Ringo: he IS the big dude now that Sam is gone, and he doesn’t like getting his picture taken, so he usually won’t look directly at me, is a little annoyed, and that’s probably why he looks a little sad sometimes. 🙂
It makes me smile to think of Ringo showing his annoyance. You reminded me of a dog in our family who hated to have a camera pointed at him too, and now that I think of it he looked sad when he was annoyed. 🙂 Ringo is a stunning dog; his coat is magnificent, and in some of his photos he looks positively royal. In my comment about him sometimes looking sad I was probably projecting my own sadness about Sam’s death on to him!
❤