Gratitude Friday

1. Morning walks. I’m actually kind of bummed that the sun is coming up so early now. This week I didn’t even need to use my headlamp, but that also means we are entering the time of year we have to share the trail with lots more people after having it practically all to ourselves for months and months.

2. Practice. I am especially grateful this week for The Open Heart Project and all its teachers and offerings, as well as all the dharma teachers who’ve taken the time to write books about the path. It’s so nice to be able to access dharma teachings on my own timeline even if my teachers are no where near me or even still alive.

3. Reading. This is something I’ve loved my whole life, even before I could read for myself. Besides life, the love of reading is one of the best things my parents gave me. And it will be one of the greatest regrets of my life that there’s no way I can ever read all the books I want to read.

4. Nourishment. In particular, good food that feeds ALL of me. This week we had a day that was almost 80 degrees, so Eric and I went to Dairy Queen for ice cream. Yesterday, I spend three hours cooking, made a bunch of salads (pasta slaw, broccoli slaw, and roasted sweet potato salad) and bran muffins, and right now as I type this, there are two loafs of glazed lemon zucchini bread in the oven.

5. My tiny family, my tiny house, my tiny life. I am SO lucky.

Bonus joy: the smell of citrus (lemon, lime, orange), a warm shower, that corner of the couch, shade when it’s hot outside, the early blooming flowers in my garden, raspberry plants from Janice’s garden, getting in the pool, sitting in the sauna with Eric, hanging out and writing and making plans for visiting Calyx, cooking for Chloe’, texting with Mom and Chris, other people’s dogs, the birds at the feeder, the shy tiny chickadees, bees, laundry, pay day, good movies (finally watched Nomadland and it was really good), good books, listening to podcasts while I cook, clean sheets, my laptop, my dining room “office,” my houseplants, good neighbors, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.

1. I’m fully vaccinated! So far, my reaction to the second round is pretty mild, a headache with short boughts of dizziness and nausea, totally manageable and absolutely worth it. I am so grateful to have made my goal: to not get COVID-19 before I had the vaccine or it was no longer a threat. This was my goal way back when this all started, before they knew when or if there would be a vaccine. I know this isn’t a guarantee of anything, but my hope is that it means if I do get sick, I won’t end up in the hospital or die from it, that I’m less likely to infect someone else, and that it’s as safe as it’s ever going to be to visit my family, who I haven’t seen in two years now.

2. Signs of spring. Foxes (Eric finally saw one of the babies this morning), more bird song in the mornings, lingering light at night, osprey out hunting along the river, things turning green, budding and blooming, the port-o-potties gone from the park, and another round of snow.

3. Comfort. Being retired so that my schedule is my own and I can do what I want, what I need for myself; sitting in the infrared sauna with Eric; getting in the pool; a massage; hot coffee with cocoa and tiny marshmallows; seeing a friend volunteering at the immunization center; the kindness and good humor of the other people working there; having Eric with me this time around; my super soft purple hoodie; wool socks; down blankets and pillows; a warm shower.

4. Morning walks. With the two storms we had come through, they were pretty gloomy this week, and it was muddy some of the time so we couldn’t get close to the river for too long. We saw lots of deer and foxes and heron.

5. My tiny family, tiny house, tiny life. My favorites.

Bonus joy: Janice coming back to the pool, hanging out and writing with Calyx, texting with Chelsey and Chloe’, texting with my mom and brother, cooking (thanks for teaching me the basics, Mom), reading (thanks to both my parents for giving me this), listening to podcasts, watching old episodes of 20/20, naan, sunshine, birds at the feeder, my daffodils about to bloom, acetaminophen, warm water, a big glass of cold clean water, my sense of smell and taste, how soft Ringo’s coat made of stars is, other people’s dogs, babies, all the people working so hard to keep us safe, practice.