1. Spring. Besides the green and the blooms, you can tell it’s spring in Fort Collins because the river is full up of snow melt.

2. Everything is SO green. It’s almost hard to believe.

One of my favorite spots on the trail

3. Morning walks. It’s so light out now that when we go, not only can I leave my headlamp at home, on Thursday morning I left at 6 am wearing my sunglasses!

4. Sweet Sam. This week at his physical therapy session, he went on the underwater treadmill. He did not love it. He also tried really hard to do some other stuff the tech wanted, but he was too excited/nervous to get it just right. He seems to be getting a bit stronger without getting sore, and I’m so grateful.

5. I finally saw the fox babies!!! This is a terrible picture, taken from far away, but that’s as close as I could get. When we first spotted them, all four babies and their mama were there, but by the time we were close enough to get a bad picture, only the bravest little one was still above ground. Ringo wanted to play with them so bad.

6. Eric. He’s been working so hard this week getting our front garden ready while I finish up my last few days of work.

Bonus joy: Hanging out with Mikalina, a friend coming back to town for the summer, getting all the laundry done on Friday, Pilates, sitting in the sauna after aqua aerobics, dark chocolate, clean sheets, good books (so good they make you stay up really late but you don’t even care that you are tired the whole next day), computer glasses, the smell of lilacs, sleeping with the window open, my new hooded sweatshirt with the picture of a cattle dog on the front that looks like Ringo, another fabulous massage, summer vacation just two more days of work away.

1. Morning walks. It rained so hard on Thursday, we couldn’t go, and I still haven’t seen the fox babies, but taking a walk with the dogs in the morning continues to be one of my favorite things almost two decades after the very first one.

I love walking with both dogs, but walking just one is SO much easier

2. Living near the river and the ponds. I feel so lucky we can walk out the front door and be at the river or the ponds in just a mile, and that there’s so much flora and fauna to see.

3. Spring. With all the rain last week, things are blooming and super green.

4. Ringo and Sam. There will most likely be a day when I don’t have dogs, but I can’t even imagine it.

This is his “throw the frisbee, Dad” face

5. Eric. I can’t wait to spend more time with him once we are both on summer break.

Bonus joy: being afraid and knowing there is a risk but saying what I know anyway, good TV (I thought when I watched the last episode of season three of Call the Midwife that the series was over, but there were actually four more seasons!), good books (I’m reading Janelle Hanchett’s new book I’m Just Happy to Be Here: A Memoir of Renegade Mothering and So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo), the sound of the neighbor’s lawn mower, the chaos of bird song in the morning, a warm shower, clean sheets, only 7 days of work left, brunch with a friend, orange juice, rhubarb, CBD oil, good smelling soap, aqua aerobics, yoga, Pilates, writing, meditation, good people who are trying so hard, sleep.