1. Morning walks. As it is spring, three things are unfortunately true about taking a walk: you have to go out really early to catch the sunrise, this is our rainy season so you also have to closely watch the forecast and many days avoid the dirt (mud) trails, and it’s tick season (we just found the second one in two weeks on Ringo — so gross!). Other than that, they are still one of the best things.

2. Our garden. Just when I thought our irises weren’t going to do as well this year, I noticed an explosion of buds which will lead to so many blooms. All of my peonies are growing inches every day and also promise many flowers. My friend Janice gave us more raspberries plants and one day when they feel comfortable and settled in, we’ll have actual berries. In the next few weeks, we’ll do the real work of cleaning up and planting our vegetable garden. Everything is so green right now with all the rain. It all just makes me so happy.

3. Family group texts. I got added a couple of days ago to one updating everyone about my uncle’s recent hospital stay. My mom’s family had twelve kids and then there are various spouses and kids that have all kept in contact so it’s a lot of people to keep in the loop when something important happens. I didn’t have everyone’s numbers saved in my contacts and a lot of them didn’t have mine so it was hilarious watching us all try to simultaneously take part in the original conversation and figure out who the heck we were talking to. I’ve managed to get all but four of the numbers sorted and saved. I had to learn to not interrupt people as an adult, that not everyone had the same conversation style as my family. I wasn’t being rude (but people took it that way) it’s just that in my family to be able to say anything and be heard, you had to gauge when someone was just about finished and talk over the top of them. If you waited until they were done and quiet, it was too late because someone else would already be talking and you’d lost your chance.

4. Being alone at home. Sometimes I wish I were more social, more adventurous, more extroverted, but I am SO not. And really, at the end of the day, I’m okay with that. 

5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. Four years ago today, when I was working my last week at CSU, I posted this on Facebook: “Went to my CSU office yesterday to bring home my plants and clear out most everything else. It felt so good taking that step. In my own often quiet way I’ve been planning this exit, dreaming of this letting go for almost ten years. I can trace it back to that awful year when both Obi and Kelly were diagnosed with cancer, and that next unbearable year when they both died. I looked at my life then and realized I wasn’t fully living what was true for me and vowed to change that. Mostly what I want to share is that real change often takes a lot of time and effort, and you don’t have to want or have a large, loud life. Having a small life that is wide and deep and quiet and slow is just as valid.” Still so true, maybe even more so.

Bonus joy: the weekend, dark chocolate covered walnuts, taco salad, finding both ticks on Ringo before they had been there long enough to do any damage, listening to podcasts, watching good TV and movies, making Eric laugh, cooking together, crows, other people’s dogs, credit card awards, a massage from Dana, making some progress on cleaning up my office, being able to do what I need for myself, curly hair, texting with my brother and mom, making art with Janice, checking in with Chloe’ and Mikalina and Chelsey, other people’s gardens, redbud trees, peony tulips (I need to get some of these), the farmer’s market, the food truck rally, being able to go to a movie theater again, trying new recipes, sitting in the backyard or on the couch with Eric and Ringo going nothing, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.

1. Morning walks. This week we even got out early enough one morning to catch the sun rise on the trail by the river. And instead of a wild turkey high up in a tree, there was a cormorant. There were also heron fishing and lots of deer, and of course geese and a few kinds of ducks, along with other kinds of birds and lots of things budding and blooming. Ringo also saw (smelled?) something at the base of a giant tree that got him very riled up but it was too dark for me to see what it was, and I wasn’t sticking around to find out.

2. Mulnix Animal Clinic, and in particular Dr. Gaffney. We’ve been taking our dogs to this clinic for the past 20+ years. We miss Dr. Mulnix so much (he passed the year he decided to retire, didn’t even make it to the celebration that was planned that summer, so we never really got to say an official thank you or goodbye) but Dr. Thomas stayed on, took over, and has grown the clinic to include all female veterinarians and an updated facility. Dr. Thomas was Sam’s vet after Dr. Mulnix stopped working and had also seen Obi and Dexter from time to time. Dr. Gaffney joined the practice just after we got Ringo and has three cattle dogs of her own, so we knew she was the perfect fit for him. And we were right. She loves him so much, and it means so much to me to know that she is doing her extra best to care for him. Ringo went in for his annual exam yesterday and he’s doing really well, and when/if he isn’t, I know they are there to help.

3. Spring. It’s finally happening. It’s a few weeks late this year because of the weather but this week our maple tree is getting leaves and my peonies are coming up and I can see tiny flower buds on the lilac bushes. It’s still a few weeks out before we can plant anything new and there’s still some question about the grasshopper population or the availability of Nolobait this season so I’m not making any definite plans but am looking forward to whatever we are able to pull off this year.

4. Reading. I have been spending WAY less time on social media and one thing that allows me to do is read more. Besides laughing and flowers and trees and dogs, books have always been one of my most favorite, beloved things.

5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. I am so looking forward to this summer, hanging out more with Eric, working on the house and garden, sitting in the backyard, taking naps, cooking together, sitting on the couch doing nothing, making each other laugh. This week in my Facebook memories, the picture of Ringo standing on the end table came up — he was so feral, so wild when he was younger, not that he’s changed that much! 🙂

Bonus joy: bran muffins, peanut butter balls, raspberries, good TV and movies, listening to podcasts, my primary care doctor, getting all the yearly appointments and checks out of the way, dark chocolate covered walnuts (sorry Eric, I found your secret stash), giving a gift that makes someone cry and hug you, bright yellow chrysanthemums, the hydromassage chair, the pool, sitting in the sauna with Eric, going to bed early, down pillows and blankets, a warm shower, a big glass of cold clean water, clean sheets, stickers, kitchen counter love notes, a big mug of green tea, sitting in the yard with Eric and Ringo, how soft new grass is (Ringo says it tastes good too), sunshine, shade, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.