1. Morning walks. We’ve been walking through a lot of nearby neighborhoods and it’s fun to see all the landscaping and various little book and art libraries.

2. Practice. Keeping me sane and steady.

3. Peonies. I’ve cut the last of them to bring inside, left a few on the bushes. I’m starting to think the pale pink varieties we have are my favorite.

4. Summer. Eric made the first strawberry cream pie, so it’s officially summer.

5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. Since Andrea Gibson’s recent health update, I’ve been (re)reading through all their published books of poetry, and there’s a line in their poem “The Day You Died Because You Wanted To” that reads “what I want most is to live / the rest of my life desperately / wanting to live it.” This. This is what I’m doing over here, every day.

Bonus joy: homemade pizza, other people’s dogs and kids, bunnies in the garden, rhubarb, the hydromassage chair, the pool, sitting in the sauna, practicing yoga at Red Sage, Beaver’s Fresh Food Market, coffee (haven’t had any in months, but I love that it exists and I could have it whenever I want), green tea in my handmade mug, making art (even when it’s by myself), good books (so many), good music (My Home by AWIN, which I’ve always thought is about a dog), good TV (I’m watching the latest season of Black Mirror and it’s fun in that creepy sort of way), texting with Chloe’ and Chris and Mom, talking to my dad on Father’s Day, true crime, comedy (going to see Jenny Zigrino live tonight — love her AND the fact that the show is at 7 pm and the venue less than ten minutes from our house), that the big hail storms and tornados didn’t land in Fort Collins, that it’s almost the end of June and our weather is still relatively cooler temps and some rain and we’ve only turned the a/c on once, clean laundry, purple highlighters, mechanical pencils, refillable pens, stickers, glue stick, a good pair of scissors, clean sheets, a cool shower when I’m so sweaty, a big glass of cold clean water, the weekend, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.

1. Peonies. I love them so much, and this poem about them by Mary Oliver:

This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready
to break my heart
as the sun rises,
as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers

and they open —
pools of lace,
white and pink —
and all day the black ants climb over them,

boring their deep and mysterious holes
into the curls,
craving the sweet sap,
taking it away

to their dark, underground cities —
and all day
under the shifty wind,
as in a dance to the great wedding,

the flowers bend their bright bodies,
and tip their fragrance to the air,
and rise,
their red stems holding

all that dampness and recklessness
gladly and lightly,
and there it is again —
beauty the brave, the exemplary,

blazing open.
Do you love this world?
Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
and softly,
and exclaiming of their dearness,
fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
their eagerness
to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
nothing, forever?

2. Practice. I get to practice yoga with the crew at Red Sage again, where I was teaching when COVID shut everything down. They have a new building with more room to practice and more people. Holding space for those who spend their days helping dogs and their humans feel better (including me and mine) is such a perfect fit for me. I’ve been practicing yoga every morning first thing when I wake up, then meditation and writing, and it feels good.

3. Morning walks. Mostly around the neighborhoods but every few days, we walk towards the river, just to get a glimpse of it. With all the rain we’ve had and the snow melting, it’s full and fast and freezing these days.

4. Yard time. Sitting in our backyard together is one of my favorite things. The other night we were out there and Ringo got the zoomies (which he does quite often for a nine and a half year old adult man). Eric got up and they chased each other and played a bit and I got some really funny pictures of the chaos.

5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. I am SO lucky, so grateful, so content, so in love with all of it.

Bonus joy: training with Shelby and the gang, one on one training with Shelby, the hydromassage chair, the pool, sitting in the sauna with Eric, yoga with Jamie, birds at the feeder, the bunny that has been napping under my rhubarb plant, good neighbors, other people’s dogs, having enough peonies to give some away, taco salad, texting with Chloe’ and Chris, naps, laundry, stickers, dark chocolate covered walnuts, good TV and films, listening to podcasts, stretching, sunshine, rain, green, how soft my hair is after using the new shampoo and conditioner I got, Oofos flip flops and slides, fabric scissors, patio umbrellas, collapsible wagons, strawberries, calendars and clocks, gummies, a big glass of cold clean water, clean air, down blankets and pillows, comedy, poetry, paper, hummingbirds, baby cows, quilts, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.