1. Morning walks. We had some cooler weather and storms this week, and it was lovely, although humid. Things are turning golden and the rabbitbrush is blooming — which I didn’t know until now is a shrub in the sunflower family. Eric and I both saw the baby whitetails and their mamas on separate walks. Since Ringo typically doesn’t bark at them unless they are running away, the tiny herd Eric saw were walking right up to him, got so close. Ringo also found a new lost toy this morning. It’s just so cute to me how happy and almost proud he seems when he finds one, how he thinks it’s his job to “rescue” them and bring them home.

2. Practice: writing every morning, meditating in my practice room, yoga at Red Sage, my Friday morning writing sangha which I had to skip this week because of a doctor’s appointment which made it so clear how much I love it and miss it if I can’t be there.

3. Eric, or as he’s being called today, Elfis. Every year, his D&D group invite other players to an all day event with a theme and costumes. This year was disco 70s, so Eric’s character was a karate loving elf Elvis impersonator. He might not dress up for Halloween or Tour de Fat, and he is still a massive introvert, but he goes all out for Stefcon. After at least seven years of this event, our garage looks like the costume closet of a high school drama department. He is such a nerd and I love it.

Here’s a few costumes from years past.

4. The magic and the mundane of life. When I got in my car yesterday on my way to a doctor’s appointment, two hummingbirds stopped to rest in our lilac bush right above where I was parked. 

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. I am exactly where I always wanted to be, doing what I always wanted to do, and my two favorites are here with me. Eric and Ringo have this cute routine when Eric comes home from work where they greet each other and then get on the floor and Ringo gets some extra love.

Bonus joy: Jessamy’s birthday, the baby growing in her belly, pictures of her other two “babies” having fun at the state fair, texting with Chris and Chloe’, Sunday morning Pilates, how good it feels to stretch, how great my primary care doctor is, therapy, a check up of a 20 year old tooth implant that ended with “it all looks good” and also seeing our dental hygienist Teri at the office working (they implied at Eric’s last cleaning with a different technician that she’d retired), Mom doing well even as her primary nurse says she’s “slowly winding down,” Liminal’s spicy sesame bowl, peaches and watermelon and corn on the cob, good TV (I just finished both seasons of Love Hurts on Netflix and really liked it), libraries and librarians, poetry and poets, listening to podcasts, streaming music libraries, listening to music loud while I drive around with my windows rolled down, making a playlist for my yoga class, comedy and comedians, true crime, getting books from the library on my Kindle, onion buns, a big glass of cold clean water, gummies, the way the light shifts as it turns towards fall, night lights, naps, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.

1. Morning walks. I’m loving the turn towards darker mornings, as it means we are out in time to see the sunrise without having to rush. It’s not any cooler yet, as historically the next few weeks are always the warmest of the summer here, but the grasses are turning color and there are some yellow leaves on the trees — my favorite season is coming!

2. Practice: yoga at Red Sage, writing with my Friday morning sangha, making art, meditating, resting, reading.

3. First responders. There was a definite funk in our garage this week and we couldn’t find the source, and then Eric remembered that because natural gas has no smell they add a stink to it to alert you there’s a leak, and our water heater is in our garage, and after we considered that as a possibility, we had to confirm, so the fire department sent a crew over to check. If you didn’t already know this, kind and gentle reader, lift assists (if someone — maybe even you — falls but isn’t necessarily hurt and yet you can’t get them back up yourself) and checking for gas leaks are services happily provided by your local fire department. Turns out our stink was a leak from our small freezer that got a section of carpet wet and not a gas leak, but the firefighters said they are more than happy to come check and prefer to do so rather than someone not calling and it turning out to be a real leak. P.S. This is the second time we’ve had to call them out. The other time our carbon monoxide detector went off, and again it wasn’t an actual leak but rather a faulty detector, and still they were happy to come confirm that for us.

4. Healthcare workers. I’m including the people who maintain and clean the facilities and work in the cafeteria and at the front desk and in the records departments and such, along with the certified professionals such as doctors and nurses and pharmacists and all the various specialist technicians, etc. My cousin got to go home from the hospital last week after a serious scare with his heart and my other cousin gave birth to an angel baby that went straight to heaven, and the care they got is such a critical and compassionate part of that experience and I’m so grateful for it. 

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. I’m enjoying this last weekend before Eric is back at work fulltime, and also so grateful to have a dog who will be 12 years old in November. 

Bonus joy: plans to see Chloe’, texting with Chris, Jessamy getting her new apartment and how close it is to “Papa” and the kids’ school (which is right behind his house) and that there are things Mom no longer needs that Jessamy can take to set up her new place after losing almost everything in the fire, Mom continuing to do well and get such good care and company, that she still remembers us, all the books I’ve been reading lately, being able to get books from the library on my Kindle, libraries and librarians, poetry and poets, comedy, music, true crime, documentaries, good TV, listening to podcasts, when it’s cool enough to roll down my car windows and turn the music up, being able to cook, therapy, Sunday morning pilates, clean water, tarot cards, stickers, peaches and corn and watermelon, gummies, sharing reels with Carrie and Shellie and Kari, other people’s dogs and kids and gardens, afternoon storms, the chance to start over for the umpteenth time, a couch that’s just as comfortable to sleep on as my own bed, online banking, grocery shopping, onion and poppy seed buns, Zoom, streaming content, prescription glasses, my infrared heating pad, the way fall smells, the river, the birds at my feeder (I swear there are a few that lean out and look through my window to say “hi”), how hard Ringo tried to get to the back seat after getting himself stuck in the “way back” of my car, how he’s been waiting so patiently behind me for his lunch, naps, fans, a/c, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.