Gratitude Friday

1. Fall is here. As the weather got cooler, we started getting a few berries again. Not many, but I am appreciating their big taste, especially knowing they are the last of the season. A bonus joy this year is the painted lady butterfly migration. For some reason, there are way more, and for a few days when you would go outside, it was like walking through a butterfly pavilion — they were everywhere!

2. For some, fall means pumpkin spice, but for me it’s salted caramel. This sauce would be good on ice cream too, but I mostly use it in coffee (decaf).

3. Farmer’s market flowers in the bathroom. These are the final weeks. I have loved them so much, the ritual of going to the market and picking out a bouquet, chatting with Joan. I am hoping she’s back next summer and I get up the guts to ask her for a tour of her garden.

4. Sleep. I don’t know if I mentioned it here, but we are redesigning our website at work. It has been a huge project, and I’m responsible for much of it, so I’ve been working myself ragged. In order to stay healthy and sane, I’ve been prioritizing sleep — going to bed early, taking whatever I need to help me sleep comfortably (my knee still gives me trouble at night), sleeping in, taking a nap whenever I can fit it in. It makes such a difference.

5. My tiny family. Eric took these great shots of the dogs up at Lory State Park last week, then filtered them with Prisma. It was too muddy from the rain for them to walk too far, but the pictures are worth it.

Bonus joy: a new fence almost finished, Wild Writing, a breakfast burrito from the farmer’s market, good neighbors, a cold glass of clean water, a warm shower, our new bed, cuddling with Sam, the way the top of Ringo’s head smells, pay day, a crispy Gala apple, ibuprofen, the swimming pool at the gym, good books, good TV, a washer and dryer in my house (it’s been years, but I still remember what a pain it was to drag all my laundry to a second location and the constant hoarding of quarters to run the machines — having my own in my own house is such a luxury), a good pen that writes fast but doesn’t smudge, an umbrella when I need one, texting, laughing with Eric, a hug when I really really need one.

1. Practice. I really appreciate the capacity my practice has to calm me down, take the edge of my anxiety, give my despair and rage and sadness a soft place to land.

2. Farmer’s Market. There aren’t as many flowers and they don’t last as long, but there are hand pies and breakfast burritos and apples and fresh bread.

3. A new bed. We’ve been meaning to buy one for a while now, but just never got around to it. Last weekend, we went shopping and were determined to not come home without a new bed. It’s a memory foam mattress, which is new to us, feels a bit like sleeping on a hard marshmallow, but so far so good, (and we have four months to sleep on it and return it to trade for another one if we don’t love it).

Ringo and Sam were pretty sure we should keep the old mattress and let them use it — the biggest dog bed ever.

4. Women. My favorites are funny, smart, creative, and kind. I got to hang out with my very favorite ones this past week — eating, talking, laughing, and writing.

5. My tiny family. I know we don’t get to stay together forever, but I’m sure enjoying the time we have right now.

The sky was on fire

Bonus joy: Recipes I’d been wanting to try turning out yummy, Tums, my toaster oven (which when Eric gave it to me for Christmas seemed like a weird present, but we’ve gotten so much use out of it), cheese quesadillas, fresh farm eggs, clean water, no more yellow jackets, good TV (the latest episode of Better Things was so good), good books (I’m reading The Hate U Give), getting in the pool at the gym, cooler weather, a warm shower and a clean towel.