1. Morning walks. I am finally back to a “normal” schedule, walking Ringo four mornings a week. Eric does the weekend mornings and either Tuesday or Thursday morning, depending on which day I’m teaching yoga. It’s nice because I can sleep in a bit on the weekends, which somehow are still the days I do chores and get ready for the week ahead, even though I’m technically retired and could do those things any day of the week, and I like to devote the full day I teach to just that, focused on teaching and practicing yoga.

There’s magic on these walks, every single one. One moment of magic this week was walking a trail we don’t walk as regularly and running into a dear friend I hadn’t seen in a really long time. It was extra special because they had one of their dogs with them and Ringo liked her. I can’t usually predict which dog he’ll like and which he’ll see as a threat, so it’s nice when he meets a calm female who is smaller than him (these are his favorite qualities in a dog) and gets some good interaction, and extra bonus if it’s a friend’s dog who he might see again.

2. Community. Our time at the coast was an introvert’s dream vacation, but I’ve also enjoyed being back in community: at the gym, running into Chloe’ on the way back from the grocery store, talking with neighbors, practicing with my Friday morning writing sangha, having dinner with friends, and teaching yoga at Red Sage.

3. Peonies. Today is most likely the final day for the ones I cut and brought inside. I’m so glad they waited for me to come back from Oregon.

4. Practice. I don’t even like to think about where or how I might be without it — without the structure, the return, the invitation to start over as many times as necessary, the slowing down, the pause.

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. There are a lot of things in my life and the world that are hard, but these things are so easy, so right, so simple. Ringo is feeling so much better after seeing Dr. Foster and following her plan to heal his belly. Eric and I got tickets to see TWO Aimee Mann shows in the fall and later today we’ll pick our five shows to see this next year at The Lincoln Center, (Marc Maron and The Moth are for sure, we just need to decide on three more).

Bonus joy: good books, good TV, listening to podcasts, getting all the laundry done before it gets too hot outside, a/c, leftovers, trees, sprinklers, raspberries, plantain chips (my current obsession, with this dip), baked ziti (I can’t stop making it!), portable fans, how many more stars Ringo has in his fur now that he’s shed most of his undercoat, strawberry jam homemade by my aunt and uncle, daisies, hummingbird moths, texts from my brother that are just him saying “hi,” H. waking up at 4 am singing the ABC song, seeing him on Zoom, when Theresa saw Ringo and I walking and even though we were already a block away she came out and yelled “Good Morning!” and we waved madly at each other, seeing Sally in the pool, training with Shelby and the gang, being stronger than I expected, the hydromassage chair, the sauna, Rainier cherries, big salads, naps, new clean sheets, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.