Happiness Booster
Several months ago, while I was away for the weekend, Stephen surprised me with a Little Free Library mounted in front of our house. I was thrilled. I’m a writer and reader, and it had seemed to me for a while, that a Little Free …
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One Tiny Note
One morning last week, I found a tiny, turquoise square post-it note fluttering in the breeze on my driver’s side car window: “Be careful. I saw a baby bird under your car.” Oh my, I thought, staring down at the post-it, I hope the bird …
At Last A Smile
The news from the CDC has been very positive lately, and we’ve begun to experience the benefits. Though we haven’t yet dined indoors in a restaurant, I’ve had several social lunches outside and Stephen and I have twice had outdoor dinner dates with friends. And …
A Happy Ending
I’d been struggling with a sick computer for several weeks. It started with a techno-nervous-breakdown, random files suddenly flashing across the screen. I knew enough to unplug everything and immediately take my Mac to the Mac doctor, where it remained for four days. When I …
A Reminder of the Importance of Small
I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of small lately. Over the most intense year of the pandemic, when for days at a time, except for long walks, Stephen and I stayed at home, it became abundantly clear how noticing small moments of beauty …
Practicing Small
I have a confession: this is the first time since the beginning of Covid 19 that I haven’t been able to isolate a moment of joy within all the uncertainty and anxiety. Not because I haven’t experienced anything positive. Quite the opposite. Life has opened …
A New First
Stephen and I have been doubly vaccinated for a while, and last weekend we had our first indoor dinner with friends—at our house! I’ve never been a dinner-party person. Not that I don’t enjoy good food and company. But I’m a perfectionist, prone to worry …
Attention to Small
When Stephen and I attended a mindfulness workshop this weekend, we were given a “bio” break after an hour and a half, and told to return to our screens with a bit of fruit. I had just bought a sac of organic Sweeties—those intensely sweet …
Not a Small Surprise
Stephen and I found our way to the “right” Briones Park this weekend, which was just as I remembered it—minus all the mountain bikers. Far west of where we landed last week, this section of the park offers meandering trails and multiple topographies, from gentle, …
A Shift in Perspective
Stephen and I decided to go on a hike last weekend. After quite a bit of discussion—over water or land views—we settled on Briones Regional Park, an inland expanse that I recalled as full of rolling hills, which at this time of year would be …