1. First snow of the season. Although, it did make me a little sad, reminding me as it did of how much Dexter loved playing in the snow. His favorite game was “oh no, where’s my toy?!” where he would bury a toy, then pretend he’d lost it, and then dig it out and celebrate finding it. That dog was so full of joy.

2. The golden, shifting season of Fall, which may have been cut short, interrupted by the snow — we went directly from our first freeze (and thus, the end of our garden, *sob*), from picking the last tomatoes and first orange pumpkins, to the first snow only a few days later.

3. The final bloom of the season. She is sitting on my writing desk this morning, open and full after being a closed bud only yesterday. I’m so glad I brought her in, otherwise she would have frozen in that tight moment just before bloom, and she has such a sweet face, the golden bridge between summer and fall/winter.

4. Grapefruit Juice, and Sweet Potato & Black Bean Quesadillas.

5. Being cold, sweaters and socks and down jackets and hats. Although I love a garden, the bees and the blooms and the fruit, and prefer being barefoot, I am otherwise not a girl of summer.

Bonus Joy: The texts Eric sends me. Yesterday, my favorites were “Love love love you” and this picture of Sam hiking.