Gratitude

1. Morning walks. After all these years, I have finally figured out routes close to water we can take that aren’t overrun with mosquitoes in the heat of summer, or maybe we don’t have as many this year. Either way, I’ve been loving walking around various ponds and next to parts of the river. There also seem to be WAY more wildflowers this year. In one spot, a deer followed us for a bit. I think she may have been hiding a baby close by and wanted to make sure we kept moving.

2. Peach season. Which also means watermelons and grapes and corn.

3. Honeybees, and how much they love our golden rain trees. At a particular time in the morning, there are so many, the hum of them collecting pollen from the tiny yellow flowers is the most gorgeous golden noise.

4. Naps. There’s a lot of that going on around here lately.

5. My tiny family, tiny life, tiny house. I know neither of us are ready for him to retire, but I sure love it that Eric has summer vacation and can be home more often. He’s my favorite person to hang out with, and when he gets bored, he cleans. 🙂

Bonus joy: being able to cancel everything and sleep all day when I need to, good books (it seems like everything I read lately is so good), watching TV, listening to podcasts, brown noise, Bubbly grapefruit sparkling water, a/c, texting, memory, grocery shopping, clean laundry, clean sheets, down pillows and blankets, meditation, restorative yoga, that video of a bear taking a four hour nap, reading on my Kindle at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.

1. Morning walks. With Eric on summer break and how much earlier he gets up than me (4:30 am compared to somewhere between 5 and 6 or even the occasional almost 7 am) and the need to get out and back before the heat, I only went once this week. It’s still one of my favorite things, and it’s probably better for you all, considering how many pictures I posted last week. 🙂

2. The gym. It’s one of the only places I’ve gone consistently since COVID-19 (or even before) and one of the places that does the most for my overall health and wellbeing. I’m grateful for how much Raintree has to offer and in particular for the humans that work and play there.

3. Good food. Eric made a strawberry pie, and I’ve been making lots of yummy salads — like this Asian Cucumber Salad and this Chinese Chicken Salad. This Crispy Teriyaki Cauliflower recipe is becoming a real favorite.

4. Reading. I am on a streak of REALLY good books, both nonfiction and fiction. Next up are these two.

5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. I told Eric the other night while we were making dinner that even though the world is awful and difficult and confusing, our life together is actually so good and I’m so happy. He agrees.

Also, I recently purchased this hand massager (see picture below), as the arthritis in my hands has been particularly painful. Eric joked it looks like a waffle iron, one morning even moved it from the spot I keep it on the counter and replaced it with our actual waffle iron, (one of my favorite things about being married is all the inside jokes). We also keep cracking each other up because one of the three cautions about using it is “don’t use while driving.”

Bonus joy: a/c (supposed to be almost 100 degrees here tomorrow), having a dog who sleeps through the fireworks, trees, the hydromassage chair, the pool, the sauna, good TV, listening to podcasts, clean laundry, clean sheets, a warm or cold shower (depending on what’s going to feel best), privacy fences, flowers of all kinds, bees, hummingbird nests, swallowtail butterflies, The Sun Magazine, music, spiders, vaccines and masks, texting, a crisp gala apple, making each other laugh, yard time, peaches, fresh bread, therapy, naps, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.