1. 27 years. This is the biggest reason I forgot to finish this post yesterday. It was our wedding anniversary. This year was a little different since we didn’t want to go out, risk getting sick. Instead we ordered pizza, (appropriate as it’s the same thing we did for our “wedding reception”, went out for pizza and beer), and watched a movie, (Elona Holmes streaming on Netflix, which was really good). 27 years ago we eloped to Evergreen, Colorado, and a few weeks later we went on a three day backpacking trip for our honeymoon. The picture on the top right is us in our tent on our honeymoon after getting caught in a huge thunderstorm and the one below that is us in our backyard a few months ago. I have a second chin now and Eric’s got a lot more gray hair, but I think we’ve earned it.

2. Morning walks. What I said last week about those being the last pictures for a bit since it was getting so dark was wrong. This week, Ringo and I waited and went just enough later to get some light when we got to the ponds and the river. Everything is turning color so fast right now, had changed so much in just a few days. One day we saw three owls, and of course Ringo got mad because they wouldn’t fly away when he yelled at them.

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3. Fall. The days getting cooler, which means Ringo gets more cuddly.

4. Love notes. Eric found another spot besides the kitchen counter and by the coffee to hide them this week, (on my meditation shrine), which made my practice all the sweeter.

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5. My tiny family. Eric plays D&D once a week with a small group of friends (all super successful adults that are secretly and not so secretly big nerds), and this past week they had an event where they did cosplay. Eric’s costume was pretty cool and they all had a good time. Ringo got to play with Teri this week and especially liked balancing on the peanut. He’s also enjoying the shift in the “no toys in the house” rule — he and Sam used to occasionally fight over them if they were left out, so they only came out at certain times, access had to be controlled. The first time I told Ringo to come in so he dropped his toy and I told him it was okay, he could bring it inside, he looked at me in such disbelief. And this morning, I was meditating when he got back from his walk and he came to find me, say “hi,” just like Sam used to do.

Bonus joy: sweet comments from readers, how Eric snuck across the street this morning and left two pumpkins for the neighbor’s kids, how green our backyard stayed this year, clean sheets, having all the laundry put away, tangerines, the people who load my groceries into my car and the ones who shop for me, a new baby boy in the family and the fact that he and his mama are safe and healthy after a bit of a scare, writing and hanging out with Mikalina, knowing something you made and shared was good because they ask for the recipe later, two jars of jam from Auntie T, a big salad, onion buns, how hard Ringo sleeps at night when we watch TV if he’s on Sam’s couch, living somewhere where I’ve seen four Trump yard signs but close to 50 signs that are all about love and progress, eye drops, Wild Writing, sitting in the sauna with Eric, clean water, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.