1. Morning walks. I got to do all of them except for one this week, as Eric was gone for a conference. Because he and Ringo get up at 4 am, I adjusted my schedule, or rather adhered to theirs, and because we were up so much earlier and I was so tired, I was afraid if I sat down for a bit before we walked, I wouldn’t want to get back up again, so we walked early enough that we only saw the very beginnings of the sunrise and walked mostly in the dark. And yet, the sky was clear most of the week, so we got to see tons of stars.

2. Celebrating birthdays. This week, I turned 58 and Ringo turned 12. His birthday in particular made me super happy — I’ve never had a truly old dog, and every year he gets closer. He’s doing so well right now that I think it might take him a few more years to seem like he’s anything close to “old.” My last two birthdays have made me sad, with my dad and Eric’s mom being gone and my mom not here in the same way, with all the cards and calls that don’t come. And one thing I forgot about being off Facebook is all those birthday wishes wouldn’t come either. “It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to…” And yet, it made me that much more grateful for the wishes that did come, and each one seemed so much sweeter.

3. Funny women. Last night, I got to see Jackie Kashin and Maria Bamford along with my funny friends Barb and Chloe’ and Laura and Jen. We laughed so hard, our faces hurt. I’ve seen both of them perform a couple of times before and they never disappoint. Making people laugh is a type of magic and laughing together is medicine.

4. Ringo. I was worried that without Eric here to “beat him down” (it’s all in good fun and Ringo loves it, I swear) and his afternoon walks, he’d be restless, but he was so good for me, so sweet, and it was kind of nice to have him all to myself, although I missed Eric like crazy and would always rather have him here too.

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. I’m so glad Eric is back home now and we are going to all be together in the same place for a week of rest and relaxation over Thanksgiving break. I’m so grateful for my life!

Bonus joy: birthday cake, Hendrix’s school picture, a hot cup of coffee and warm mug of tea, taking care of myself, canceling things I don’t have the capacity for, how when you are reading multiple books they start being in conversation with each other in ways you couldn’t have predicted, flower seeds from Chloe’, the way people swap and share plants like how I have four different kinds of irises and they were all gifts from someone else’s garden, stickers, picking out a sticker to go on a new blank notebook and how sometime when I’m looking for a particular notebook from a specific time I recognize it because of the sticker on the front, down blankets and pillows, leftovers, grocery shopping, $.70 off per gallon of gas because of grocery rewards points that pile up because my car is a hybrid (and Eric’s an electric) and I don’t drive that many miles because I would almost always rather stay home and when I do go somewhere it’s usually only a few miles away, having so many trails close by I can walk Ringo every day and each walk is in a different location, how we always have the radio on playing music or episodes of Dateline or old radio shows from the “Golden Age of Radio” in the 30s and 40s, other people’s dogs and kids, Reddit (where I’m spending way too much time now that I’m not on Facebook or Instagram), The Lincoln Center, Zoom, grapefruit Bubly, naps, libraries and librarians, poetry and poets, first responders, texting with my brother, good TV (which is sometime bad TV too), streaming content, listening to podcasts, mood lighting, twinkle lights, all the Christmas lights going up, that one house that decorates their yard for Christmas with nothing but dog decorations, watercolor, glue stick, talking to Mom on the phone for a few minutes on my birthday, the voice note Jessamy sent of the kids saying “Happy Birthday, Auntie Jill,” what Chris wrote on the card he sent me, his tender heart, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep (which I get to do tonight after four nights without the Eric half).