1. Our garden, still producing even as it starts to fade.

2. A mostly Turkish breakfast, hosted by one of our friends who came back last year after teaching in Turkey for a few years. It was delicious.

3. These two, and their sweet little morning routine.

4. These two, and the very best dog trainer who is helping me recommit to giving them the best life ever.

5. A new book from Pema. It’s the speech she gave at Naropa when her granddaughter graduated, and it’s amazing. I want to give a copy to every single person embarking on some new thing.

Bonus joy: Late summer dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes and corn on the cob, Hulu with no commercials and binge watching Catfish, good health insurance that allows for inexpensive physical therapy (after my deductible was met, that is), Wild Writing class, rest, getting clear about where I want to focus my energy and time, smart creative funny friends.

1. Clean bookshelves. Organized and dusted, with about 15 bags of books removed, half for donation and half for trade. I didn’t really mean to take on this project today. It started with just three books that I was getting ready to take to trade, which led to checking for others, which led to cleaning and completely reorganizing the whole shebang.

image by Eric

2. Play date. Pancho is only five months old and he’s already bigger than Ringo, but not quite as big as Sam yet. It’s good to have another dog the boys can play with, and the bonus for me is I love Pancho’s mom so it’s like a play date for me too.

3. Summer fruit. Upick strawberries at Garden Sweet, watermelon, and peaches.

4. Good mail. I love having pen pals who write real letters that make me want to answer back immediately, that are so intimate it feels like they were sitting right there talking to me.

5. Glazed lemon zucchini bread with raspberries. Even better when there’s enough to share.

Bonus joy: finally working out the details of something really exciting I’ll tell you about on Monday, enough vegetables to share, dogs who just got baths, Ringo getting so grown up he can lounge in the backyard without me having to watch him every second, Sam’s coat turning purple red like it does every summer, Eric being able to walk the dogs when my foot hurts or it’s too hot for me, solar tunnels letting light into a few of the dark spots of our tiny house (we keep thinking we left the light on, now I want to put them everywhere), finalizing plans to get started on our bathroom remodel, having the energy to spend a whole day cleaning, being able to let go, physical therapy, soaking in the tub, napping, laughing, jasmine rice, hummus with cucumber and sweet potato chips, sleeping in, air conditioning.