1. Poetry: A Call Back from Julia Fehrenbacher, The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry shared by Patti Digh, and What I Heard Her Say and The Third Option from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.

2. Beyond Time and Money from Sara Saltee, “an invitation to explore the intricate calculus of creating a life.”

3. Report: 100 Days Out, “Life on the ground” from Janisse Ray.

4. Fighting America’s Second Civil War on The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz.

5. 10 Ways to Get Better if You Feel Like Crap from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

6. Being human in inhumane times from Patti Digh. “And 10 lessons for stronger resistance movements.”

7. Artful opportunities: five ways to be creative every day.

8. Humble Heroism, “A subway story that won’t make the news” from Connie Sun.

9. You can’t drag someone to shore who doesn’t believe they’re in water from Patti Digh. “That was the moment I learned that you cannot force someone into wholeness. You cannot make someone choose life or rescue someone from a life they have chosen, even if you believe they are drowning in it. You can’t drag someone to shore who doesn’t believe they’re in water. Not even when you love them. Not even when they love you. Maybe especially not then.”

10. World Food Photography Awards 2025.

11. Wisdom from Shunryu Suzuki: “Renunciation is not giving up the things of this world, but accepting that they go away.”

12. Nice vs. Kind: The Difference Is Significant.

13. From dogs to rabbits, NPR readers share how adopting shelter pets impacted them.

14. People find relationship with their dog more satisfying than with best friend, study shows.

15. And finally, a few random things I saved to my phone this week.

1. Morning walks. Even though we don’t take the same route every day, we do have some regular spots. It makes me so happy that there are so many trails, both public and secret, near where we live, along with so many ponds and the river. We had to skip the dirt trails at the ponds this week because of rain, but we got to see Theresa at her fitness studio twice, which always makes our day.

2. Mom is still here, or rather there. I have no idea what to expect at this point, and that’s okay, especially knowing she is comfortable and happy where she is at and is getting the best care possible.

3. Therapy. I finally saw my new therapist and am feeling optimistic about working with her. At the end of our appointment, we showed each other pictures of our dogs. 

4. Eric. I have made so many choices in my life that weren’t good and/or didn’t work out, have had to rescue myself and start over a million times, but choosing Eric, and continuing to choose him over and over, is the BEST thing I’ve ever done, and I’m so grateful for him and our life together. 

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. There has been a whole lot of “yard time” this past week, lounging in the sun watching the grass grow.

Bonus joy: onion buns, a perfectly ripe banana (which for me means barely ripe), Eric making dinner on the weekends, Sunday morning Pilates, Ringo’s primary vet who loves him SO much, new stickers, clean sheets, good TV, listening to podcasts, being able to get books for my Kindle from the library, libraries and librarians, poets and poetry, canceled plans, planning road trips with Eric, a massage with Dana, writing with my Friday morning sangha, KIND nut clusters, yogurt with granola and berries, having my bird feeder replaced so the chickadees and finches are visiting me again, dandelions, forsythia, daffodils, Eric getting me flowers for no other reason than I like them, the smell of strawberries, making naan, grocery shopping, the produce section, the sound of a pepper grinder, a big glass of cold clean water, texting with Chris and Chloe’, the cutest of puppies, other people’s dogs and kids and gardens, horses, the sound of a cat purring, books, electric cars, using grocery points to get $.90 cents off a gallon on gas, a warm mug of green tea, a warm shower, clean teeth, down blankets and pillows, my Shakti mat, blackout shades, naps, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.