1. Mom. I am so grateful to have a mom who loves me and is still here. One who was so involved with our education, and in particular taught me to love reading and music. One who came from a big farming family and kept them close so that I learned the values of hard work, good food, and good company. I have so many people in my corner simply because they love her and I’m hers.
2. Good food. I tried a new recipe last night and it was SO good. And even though his favorite thing is anything meat, Ringo has a soft spot for baked goods too, particularly pancakes — with butter, please.
3. Everything is getting so green. Since we’ll be in Oregon for a few weeks towards the start of the season, we haven’t quite figured out how many new things are happening in our garden. We may do something simple this year, just a few of our favorite veggies. I’ve said it before but I sure hope I don’t miss peony season.
4. Eric ran a marathon and didn’t get hurt. Just to be clear, there’s no rational reason I should worry about him doing a race, but I do, and I’m always so relieved when it’s over. This year, Ringo and I were on our morning walk when they started the 5&10k runs that were part of the same race and on part of our walking route, so we saw some mile markers and some runners. When Ringo saw the 25 mile flag, he knew it wasn’t supposed to be there, was something new, and he growled at it.
5. Morning walks. It’s spring, so that means we had some rain this week, had to stay close to home and even cut a few walks short because of it. The few times we got to walk by the river and ponds, there were things in bloom and five pelicans in a spot we’d never seen them before along with a few cormorants high up in some trees drying off their wings, (cormorants lack the waterproofing oils that other water birds produce so when they get out of the water, they need to dry off in a way other water birds don’t).
6. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. The ease and joy and comfort of being together.
Bonus joy: the smell of lilacs, bird song in the morning, birds at the feeder, yard time, good books and TV, listening to podcasts, sitting in the sauna with Eric, the pool, the hydromassage chair, small group training with Shelby, making art with Calyx, hanging out in Chloe’s backyard with her and Hendrix and Franny and the chickens, texting with Chris and my mom, clean sheets, a warm shower, our whole house fan (I would have never thought to put one in, but it was already here and we use it SO much), trying new recipes that turn out delicious, berries, writing in the morning, my HappyLight, a hot cup of coffee with cocoa and tiny marshmallows, my Ooofos (super comfortable flip flops and slides), my weighted blanket, down pillows and blankets, healthcare (vaccines, hospitals, medicine, doctors and nurses, etc.), good neighbors, groceries, pay day, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.
13. Your dog is a good boy, but that’s not necessarily because of its breed. “Researchers surveyed the owners of more than 18,000 dogs and analyzed the DNA of about 2,100 animals to see if physical traits and behaviors can be correlated with dog breeds. Overall, the study found that about 9% of the variation in an individual dog’s behavior can be explained by its breed.” This is causing some controversy in the dog world.
14. What the Fitness Industry Doesn’t Understand. “A new generation of fitness instructors teaches simple skills that make a difference. Why is beginner-level exercise treated like a niche?”
15. Your Kids Can Handle Dangerous Ideason The New York Times. “Parents — or at least the parents who seem to win media attention — are freaking out over everything their kids see, read and do.”
16. Here’s why Dr. Fauci says the U.S. is ‘out of the pandemic phase’. “‘The United States and the entire world is still experiencing a pandemic, but there are different phases of the pandemic,’ he said. ‘And what we are in right now is somewhat of a transitional phase, out of the accelerated component into hopefully a more controlled component.'”
19. 24 Hours in the Creative Lifeon The New York Times Style Magazine. “In our 2022 Culture issue, out April 24, T followed a group of artists — musicians, chefs, designers, writers and others — throughout the course of a day, exploring the intimate moments of their lives that contribute, in ways small and large, to their creative process.”
24. “The Body is Trustworthy”: Decolonizing Wellness with Dalia Kinsey. “Dalia Kinsey, author of Decolonizing Wellness: A QTBIPOC-Centered Guide to Escape the Diet Trap, Heal Your Self-Image, and Achieve Body Liberation, is a queer Black registered dietician whose work focuses on the layered ways in which fatphobia, racism, homophobia, and misogny both show up in the wellness movement and cause real, measurable harm to marginalized bodies.”
25. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.”
30. He Came Out of Nowhere and Humbled Amazon. Is Chris Smalls the Future of Labor?“Experts say that the activism of the past few years—from #MeToo to Black Lives Matter to walkouts at major tech companies— has seeped into organized labor. The new model is ‘young people organizing young people, it’s non-white people organizing majority non-white workforces,’ says Wilma Liebman, who served as chair of the National Labor Relations Board under President Obama. ‘Unions clearly have to adapt to the changing demographic of the workforces.'”
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 