1. Morning walks. This is probably my favorite season for morning walks, as it’s cooler but not super cold, we leave in the dark but get to see the full sunrise, and the sunrise because of the cold and moisture in the clouds can be a particular kind of magic.

One morning this week, we got to the trail head and heard a noise I couldn’t place. I looked around but didn’t see anything at first. Then, my headlamp reflected in the green of some animal’s eyes. We see a lot of deer there but these eyes were too close to the ground and it’s head moved different. I was starting to think it might be a bobcat when I put on my glasses so I could see more clearly and realized it was a deer, with a large heavy rack of antlers and head hovered low to the ground eating apples which he’d earlier knocked off the tree using the same antlers, explaining the strange noise we’d heard.

2. My brother and his tiny family. He has become the “head of the family” hard and fast, and does such a good job of it. And as Papa 2.0, he’s a much gentler, kinder, easier going version than we had growing up. Three sweet things about him this week: I found out that the apples Mom is always eating when he sends a picture are because he brings her one special when he goes to visit her. Also, even though he’s the one who typically does most of the shopping and all the shipping for my birthday and Christmas presents, he always makes sure to have his WHOLE family, both girls and both grandkids, sign my card. And finally, another sweet story about where some of Mom and Dad’s furniture that we don’t want is ending up — this time it’s a small loveseat that is going to a woman that is building a “tiny house” for her dogs!!! He knew I’d like that one. Even though the last two years have been especially hard for us, we are closer than ever, and I am grateful for that.

3. Seeing the Northern Lights from our front porch. Even more fun was sharing the pictures with everyone who wasn’t there to see them and seeing all the pictures other local people took.

4. Practice. Yoga at Red Sage plus one puppy, Friday morning writing sangha, writing and reading in the morning, and meditating in the quiet of my practice room.

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. I’m really looking forward to when Eric doesn’t have to work so hard, and to celebrating Ringo’s 12th birthday next week — the oldest dog I’ve ever had by a whole year and a half!

Bonus joy: seeing our friend Mary Ellen on our walk, visiting our friend Theresa at her fitness studio every week on our walk, all my dogs — here and gone, texting with Chris and Chloe’ and Shellie and Kari, sharing books with people, book club, getting the laundry done, grocery shopping, hanging out with Ringo all day, good TV, new music, listening to podcasts, slippers, breakfast burritos, other people’s dogs and kids, stickers, citrus, fry sauce, plantain chips, grapefruit Bubly, down blankets and pillows and coats, wool socks, gummies, making each other laugh, owls, finally a chance of snow in the forecast, remembering good people, Sesame Street, a warm shower, naps, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep. 

1. Morning walks. We snuck in a few more golden trees this week, as the warmer weather has lingered and we haven’t had any hard frosts or snow yet. 

2. Practice. Red Sage yoga with some of my favorite people and one puppy, Friday morning writing with some amazing humans and poems, reading so many good books, and my meditation practice still trying to find its place, happening at random times but no less precious.

3. An average of 300 days of sun per year. I’ve been hearing from Oregon family how miserable it was there last week, stormy and gray. I’m so glad we landed somewhere that has all four seasons but also more sun and less moisture. Even when it snows and is the coldest it gets, there’s more light here than where I grew up, and I’m so grateful. And yes, I also complain all summer long that it is so dang hot. 

4. Good books, TV, films, poetry, comedy, and music. This week, I finished It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over, a wonderful and weird contemplation of love and loss from the perspective of a lesbian zombie after an apocalypse that reads like a long form poem. This week’s editor’s note at the beginning of the “Weekend Reader” email from Lion’s Roar says, “I couldn’t help but liken the main character’s journey to the bardo. Bardo is a Tibetan word, often referring to the period between death and rebirth, or more generally the transition space between two states of being. It is the period of change from one reality to another.” I finally watched Past Lives, which really feels more like a play than a typical film, and the final scene just gutted me. I also started rewatching Somebody, Somewhere, which is one of my comfort shows. I’m reading the new poetry collection from James Crews, Turning Toward Grief: Reflections on Life, Loss, and Appreciation, and it’s just so good. I am looking forward to seeing Maria Bamford at The Lincoln Center (my favorite local venue in part because it’s only about five minutes from my house). And I have been obsessed with this song, Malleable by Tiny Habits, since I heard it a few days ago even though it is a year old. It reminds me a lot of Rosie Thomas.

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. My friend Cynthia said to me recently, “you’ve got backup, Eric and Ringo,” meaning I’ve got support, that it isn’t just me against the world. She’s absolutely correct. If nothing else goes “right” for me, I’ve already got everything I need, everything I ever wanted. I was telling my therapist this week that all I wanted when I was a kid, when I imagined my adult life where I would get to choose for myself, that I just wanted a partner who loved me and made me laugh, time to read and write, and some dogs. And look at me now. 🙂 ❤

Bonus joy: free geraniums from Eric’s campus nursery, slowly decluttering and cleaning our house, “trading some,” other people’s kids and dogs, looking forward to Christmas lights, gummies, Reese’s holiday shapes (hearts, eggs, pumpkins, bats, ghosts, Christmas trees, etc. — because they have less chocolate and more peanut butter filling), a hot cup of coffee, a warm mug of green tea, toast, getting books from the library on my Kindle, that Ringo is aging so well (better than me), being able to start over and begin again no matter how many times I need to, book club, that there was a single ticket left right next to Chloe’ and Barb and Eric and Jen wanted my pair of tickets, the cute plush blue heeler stuffed toy I got for the neighbor’s new baby (that is so cute I want to keep it but I already have two, see below, and don’t need anymore — right?), clean sheets, a warm shower, a sandwich (so weird how something so simple just hits the spot sometimes), onion rolls, down blankets and pillows, a couch that is comfortable enough to sleep on, cuddling with Ringo (which is very rare but does happen, is more likely once it starts getting cold out), the holiday lights in Old Town, poetry collections, true crime, grocery shopping, sitting in the backyard in the sun with Eric and Ringo, reading on my Kindle in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.