1. Morning walks. They were pretty chilly this week. We are having a weird fall into winter, as our overnight temperatures are pretty normal but our daytime temps are in the 50s and some days even get up to 60 degrees. I sure wish we would get a big snow.

The following are some of the pictures Eric took this week, either on walks with Ringo or on runs on his own. I love the ones of Ringo with the sun.

2. Practice. This week at Red Sage, we got to have THREE dogs with us. It was a bit more rowdy than usual, but the best kind of chaos. At one point. I cued a pose and added “this is going to make you vulnerable to butt sniffs” and after they stopped laughing, one of my students said, “I bet you’ve never said that in a yoga class before.”

3. Texting. Now that it’s even more common for my Oregon family, one thing it does is keep me “in the loop” about what’s going on there. This week it was another aunt in the hospital with symptoms that might be “the big bad.” Being able to keep track of what was going on, offer support and send love means a lot. I miss being able to text with my mom. She finally got a smartphone just before COVID, and during those dark days it was especially nice to be able to keep in touch so easily, check in regularly and send her pictures. Yesterday we got our Christmas tree and I didn’t even send her a picture. The last text I have from her that she sent independently without help is from May of this year. Clearly it was getting harder for her, as the first text of that day was a picture of her lap, but the last one ended with, “Love you, Mom.” *sigh* 

4. Staying home. Eric will occasionally tease me, ask me “When was the last time you left the house?” The joke is even funnier when I have to struggle to answer because I can’t remember. I leave mostly when I have to — to get groceries, to go to an appointment or the gym, to teach yoga — but mostly, if I have a choice, I stay here. Why wouldn’t I? Most of my favorite things are here.

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. How can something so small be so expansive, so vast, so substantial, so immense, so deep, so wide, so BIG?

Bonus joy: going with Ringo and Eric to pick out our Christmas tree, baked ziti, toast, clean sheets, twinkle lights, gummies, the sound of the furnace kicking on, a warm shower, down blankets and pillows and coats, other people’s kids and dogs and gardens, how excited Theresa gets to see the dogs that visit her studio, taking Ringo to “play” with Teri at Red Sage, how cute he is in his winter coat, texting with Chris and “the girls” and Chloe’, sharing memes and reels with Carrie and Kari and Shellie, training with Shelby and the gang, the pool, aqua aerobics, the hydromassage chair, sitting in the sauna, compression socks, a new toothbrush head, stickers, naps, listening to podcasts, new music, watching TV (the documentary on Peacock about Girls Gone Wild was really good, and I’m surprised how much Joe Francis reminds me of Donald Trump — such an arrogant creepy failure), comedy, true crime, documentaries — in particular about cults and famous people or businesses gone bad, getting books from the library for my Kindle — I use an app on my phone and don’t even need to leave the house (see item #4 on this week’s list), clean laundry, being able to listen in my car to podcasts or music that’s on my phone, knowing how to cook and having “backstock” in my pantry (because when I don’t have a plan and haven’t gone to the grocery store, I can usually put together something from what we already have), leftovers, toffee, writing with my Friday morning sangha, acupuncture, tarot, my weighted blanket, my moon nightlight, reading in bed while Eric and Ringo sleep.