1. God
2. Nancy tending to the plants in the library
3. and the smell of fresh potting soil
4. Hearing that Emily is coming home for Christmas
5. A fine salad with argula, beans and pesto
6. Questions upon questions
7. Working with others
8. 88 keys (and 96 on some models)
9. Drawings
10. People supporting one another
1. God
2. Fairy tales
3. Especially the Twelve Dancing Princesses, the Brave Little Tailor, Clever Gretl, at least those come to mind at the moment
4. The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, and there are others, and stories from other places, perhaps some to be discovered
5. Retelling
6. Inner meaning
7. “spoiling a story telling it”
8. jokes
9. “bad pun disturbing a rhyme”
10. from somewhere
1. God
2. A wonderful reminder from Helen
3. Talking with David about history and learning what I didn’t know
4. Don’t gnochhi if you haven’t tried ‘e
5. A warm house
6. Before the dawn
7. The music of Cecil Taylor
8. A clean and patched overcoat
9. Considering other versions of a story
10. Accepting uncertainty
1. God
2. Relaxing
3. Equilibrium
4. Nicky sharing her paper with me
5. And giving a referral to Nicky
6. Some snowflakes here; Hannah sent a great snow picture from Pa.
7. Meeting John and impressed with what he wants to do
8. Realizing what skills I didn’t have when I started working twenty-five years ago, maybe it can be different for today’s students
9. Clearing skies
10. Bells
1. God
2. Eric and Sam for helping
3. A wonderfully thought-provoking piece of writing by Lindsey
4. Quadrants
5. Queen of the highway
6. Purple night
7. Being open to the contrary
8. Useful totes to put things in (although I imagine being happy with a useful pot to put something in, like a flattened balloon)
9. The books of A.A. Milne with pictures by Ernest Shepherd
10. Trespassers Will
1. God
2. A flagpole dedication in honor of our veterans
3. And listening to Gabi read the Gettysburg address
4. Beautiful cold day
5. Helen writing to ask how I was doing
6. Opportunities
7. Cassie’s good judgment to take Muffin to the veterinary
8. A veterinary hospital that’s open evenings and Sundays, with caring personnel who enjoy animals
9. A country road in the fall
10. Horses and also much cattle
1. God
2. Meeting Christa for the first time
3. A walk through the public garden, for me the first time in many years
4. Christa stopped to take pictures along the way, drawn by what caught her eye. One I remember is of some ducks on the pond colored orange from the leaves’ reflection, beautiful
5. Seeing trees I didn’t know were there, such as a Himalayan Birch and a Redwood
6. Lots of people out on a cold November day
7. Talking about intuition and creativity
8. And old souls
9. And what we appreciate
10. Listening and feeling heard
11. Friendship
12. The gift of time
1. God
2. Good suggestions
3. Problems that seem to correct themselves after a while
4. Sunshine
5. The music of Lou Reed
6. Cassie and Jenn challenging one another with outrageous winter window decorations (“Bring it” Jenn texted)
7. Robbed of speech by Julia “until I know what the dove knows”
8. Excited for Abby who was invited to present at a conference
9. Ordinary life was laced with miracles via Lindsey
10. Anticipation
1. God
2. Going where I need to go
3. Fine linen
4. The body more than raiment
5. Clouds in the sunset
6. Invited to speak to Kerri’s class, an attentive and patient group
7. The student who suggested I put the projector in the middle of the room on a stool, plugged into the floor, wouldn’t have thought of that myself
8. A leisurely pace
9. First Sip
10. Simply Woman
especially the Daily Womantra
1. God
2. Seeing a big picture
3. Finding
4. Lindsey asks good questions
5. Phone call from Hannah
6. Talking with David about possibilities
7. Warm November days
8. Seeds
9. And yet another sunflower plant in an unusual place
10. Crystal’s reminder that I don’t need to go to every fight I’m invited to and why try to “win” a useless argument