1. Morning walks. Still staying mostly away from the river and ponds, walking though neighborhoods, winding our way around and back with no real plan. One of my favorite places to walk this time of year is Grandview Cemetery. According to Wikipedia, “The land for the cemetery was purchased in 1887; at the time it was west of the city limits of Fort Collins. The first interment at Grandview took place on November 21, 1887, when a three-month-old infant named Felix Scoville was buried there. As of 2009 Grandview consisted of approximately 45 acres, 34,000 grave spaces, 70 crypts, 336 niches, and over 22,000 burials.” There are tons of massive trees (one used by owls each year to raise some babies); sometimes deer and rabbits and of course squirrels and crows and geese; nicely maintained paths that loop all the way around and through; so much shade; a water fountain (Ringo gets thirsty this time of year); and lots of beautiful peonies, lilacs, irises, and roses. It’s also right next to City Park and Sheldon Lake as well as Mountain Avenue, one of the prettiest and probably oldest streets in Fort Collins. It’s just so peaceful. If we walk from our house, do a loop around the cemetery and go through the park, we can turn back towards home and go 3.5-4.5 miles, depending on the exact route. Don’t worry, Ringo stays mostly on the trail, isn’t allowed to pee or walk on anyone’s plot or headstone. If I were buried there, I would LOVE having dogs come to visit.

2. Eric getting good news. Eric went hiking up Dead Man’s Road this week. He was pretty sure he’d hear back about a big project proposal that day so told himself if he saw a bear or moose, that’d be a good sign.
“And you saw?”
“A porcupine! What does that mean? Is it a bad sign?”
“Well, you’ve never seen a porcupine and if I’d asked you before you left to list 20 things you might see, you NEVER would have said ‘porcupine’ so it’s kind of like seeing a unicorn, so probably good.” And it was — proposal accepted. I’m so proud of the good work he does, recognized or not. And an added bonus is that this particular project means we get to rent a really nice beach house for a longer amount of time the next time we go to Oregon. 

3. Books. I have sat here for a few minutes, curser blinking, trying to figure out what to say about this one because what I have to say could fill its own book. I just love reading so much, have learned so much and have experienced so much joy that it’s hard to find words that could contain or communicate even a small measure of my gratitude. They are one of the great loves of my life, along with my dogs and Eric and practice.

4. Peonies. This really and truly is the end of the season in my garden. The few I still have in vases in the house have about one more day left in them. I’m sad to see them go but also grateful I got to be here for the whole season this year. I guess it’s time to start going to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings and see what flowers they’ve got. There’s an art teacher who kept a flower stall there in the “before times” and I’ve almost been afraid to go back, worried she won’t be there anymore, but it may be time.

5. Danielle Ate the Sandwich and Pamela Machala show at Avo’s. Avogadro’s Number is a great local music venue, bar and restaurant we’ve been going to for the past 30 years. I’ve seen Danielle perform before but this was my first time seeing Pamela, and WOW, what a great show, a great time with our friends who came to have dinner and listen to music with us. It was outside on Avo’s back patio stage and the weather was perfect. Danielle moved to Kansas City after being here for a long time and it was good to see her again.

6. My tiny family, small home, little life. It has been a really great summer so far.

Bonus joy: teaching yoga at Red Sage, texting with Chloe’ and Chris and Mom, good TV and film, good books, listening to music and podcasts, making each other laugh, getting our new internet hooked up, everything bagels from Gib’s, plans to have dinner with Chelsey and Jon, pay day, the hydromassage chair, the pool, training with Shelby and the gang, sitting in the sauna, grocery shopping, seeds I put in the ground turning in to plants, good neighbors, blue tooth speakers, a new computer monitor and speaker, dark chocolate covered walnuts, a big glass of cold clean water, finishing the laundry, clean sheets, my jellyfish tshirt, writing with the wild-ish sangha, Sunday morning yoga with Jamie, being missed by the massive hail and tornadoes, pictures of my family, the group family text, the collapsible wagon I got to move yoga props from my car to the therapy rooms at Red Sage, Eric’s help loading and unloading the same props from my car, not rushing into anything, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.