1. Morning walks. Some of what was seen on this week’s morning walks: foxes, raccoons, beavers, herons, and a set of trash cans that are clearly a message for someone but in a very isolated parking lot that seems an odd place to leave it.

2. Making art, with and for people. Janice and I hung out on Zoom and I made a collage and did some painting. My small group fitness training class instructor had told me she’d had a dream that I showed up at her house with a beat up yellow hippie van covered in flowers and gifted it to her saying, “Thanks for the training.” So I painted her a tiny one, handed it to her before our next session and said, “Thanks for the training!”

3. Spring snow. We woke up to a surprising amount this morning. On Tuesday it snowed much of the day, but only about three or four inches and the ground was so warm it didn’t stick to the sidewalks or the road and the sun came out on Wednesday and melted it all. When I saw we were supposed to get more snow overnight, I expected more of the same but instead we got six inches. Things are really started to turn green because of the moisture, the sun and warmer daytime temperatures.

4. Reading and writing. It was a really good week for both.

5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. I love it here. Ringo had a visit with his physical therapist and fourth favorite person this week, (yes, there’s a ranking: Eric, then me, then Teri, and then a tie between Chloe’ and Jeff). He doesn’t really need therapy anymore, is doing really well and back to running, but he loves seeing Teri so much and the work they do together is play to him, a working dog, so I make sure to take him once a month. It also helps me to know just how Ringo is doing physically, as Teri can tell me if anywhere is particularly tight or stiff and I can work on that with him at home. I usually let him go back on his own because with me there, he gets too distracted. However, this week I wanted to see the space where they work with different eyes because I’m going to start teaching yoga for their doctors and technicians and staff again and they are in a new building, so I went back for just a few minutes at the beginning to take a closer look. I noticed then, as I had when she came out to get him and then when we left, that even though he loves Teri so much, I can tell he loves me even more. For a dog I wouldn’t really call affectionate, that makes me really happy.

Bonus joy: sitting with Eric on the couch doing nothing, making each other laugh, watching Antiques Roadshow together, tax refunds, cooking together, the birds in my feeder, the way Ringo noticed the giant Northern Flicker in the feeder and stood up on my desk to bark at it, the way he’s been following me into my office in the mornings and napping on the floor behind me while I write (there’s a whole bed set up under the desk but he’s my only dog who won’t lay there if I’m sitting at the desk), two of my house plants in bloom, glue stick and paint, raspberries, Dot’s Honey Mustard Pretzel Sticks, that Eric was able to hit the brakes and swerve into an empty turn lane instead of getting smashed by a giant truck that pulled in front of him, walnuts, gingerbread, stickers and magnets, my bed, flannel sheets, down blankets and pillows and coats, when I’m in my office blogging while Eric and Ringo are napping on the couch to the sound of the XM Chill Hop station and washing machine, how bright it is at night or early in the morning when it snows, plans to get dinner at Chili House with Chelsey and Jon, other people’s dogs and kids, how much people like the pictures I take, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.