#small good things

[notaparagraph]

small good things this morning:

greek yogurt with bananas, granola, and honey.

Tony Goldwyn listing former POTUS in his bio.

Henry sitting next to me and purring while my husband brushed him.

Kirby lounging on his pillow pile.

[audreythevaliant]

Good things:

1. Bluebird eggs in the birdhouse at my Grammy and Papa’s.

2. Getting to nap while baby hung out with my mom and Grammy.

3. Cupcakes and good pizza.

[rustbeltjessie]

There comes a time every spring when I get so restless, and I yearn so for I don’t even know what, just to feel alive maybe, and the only thing for it is to drive really fast down a backroad (er, backstreet) with the windows down (letting the wind blow back my hair) while absolutely blasting Born to Run. That time this year came on Thursday, so I partook of the ritual after I got off work.

Other things I’ve been doing lately that have helped with the springtime restlessness and yearning include:

—Having picnics. I’ve been on four picnics in the past three weeks—twice solo, and twice with other people—and I think I’m going to continue it as much as possible throughout the summer. Food tastes better outside, sitting in the sunshine or the shade of a big old tree, and even better if you also have a good book to read while eating (or good company if it’s not a solo picnic). Also, it doesn’t require a huge time commitment—two of these picnics have been on my lunch breaks at work. All you have to do is take the food you packed or the food you purchased and eat outside and boom, impromptu picnic!

—Taking different routes home/to work than the ones I usually take.

—Wandering through a park or cemetery at least once a week.

—Also at least once a week, I try a cafe I’ve never been to before, or try a new drink or food at a favorite cafe.

—Riding my bike as much as possible.

Last night was the full blue moon. Today is the first day of Pride Month, and my period started this morning, which is frankly biphobic—but right now I’m drinking an iced chai with oatmilk creamer, so that’s nice. I’m swamped with work and now my kids are off school for the summer, so I’m trying to navigate childcare arrangements (something I never had to worry about until this summer, because my prior jobs were all freelance/more flexible). But now I’m done with work for today, and I’m going to spend the rest of the day reading and working on some packages full of whimsy to send to far away friends.

[biologically-confused]

this time if year its so difficult to get out of the lab before sunset, but we’ve had a few beautiful days lately and I managed to catch the sunset today!

[scribefindegil]

A small good thing I did not expect to happen: my jade plant started growing! The stem started branching off and now it's growing four new baby leaves! I didn't think it would grow for the longest time and now it's flourishing <3

Nice!! I love jade plants; they're so pretty!

[the-fae-folk]

What is one of your favorite character quotes from your Fae story?

Hmm. I do have several quotes that I'm rather fond of. But I think one of my favorites is from the Sage. "Everything’s important. Terrible things happen every day, all the time, everywhere. But good things happen too. You can’t forget that. Babies are born, lives are saved, jokes are told, friendships are formed, people cuddle by warm fires, and someone somewhere has just found the frozen Ice Cream bar they forgot about in the freezer and had an unexpected treat.” I think its important to acknowledge the good things, both the great and the ordinary everyday, just as ardently as all the ills of the world. If we don't see them, don't know them, don't appreciate them, then they might quietly vanish away when we're not looking. And the world will be a little darker for it. But if we can each do even one good deed more, make one person happier (even if it is just ourselves after a time of feeling grey and down), fix or clean something that people need and want that has been forgotten or abandoned, see beauty in something unexpected and appreciate it, create beauty for others to enjoy, or offer an ear to those who so desperately need to be heard... then the world will grow a little brighter every time.

[othernotebooksareavailable]

today the travel limit of 5 miles was lifted in scotland, so D and I drove to the kingdom of fife and bought honey from a farm shop, honey and raspberries and rich reddish apple juice, and drove to st andrews, where we met around 17 years ago. the coffee shop in which I worked for a summer is still there, looking much the same. the coffee is excellent, as is the hot chocolate

[luminarybookstore]

the thing i need to remember is:

everything sucks right now. this is true. however things will not always suck. this is also true. and even among all the suck right now, there are still good things. whipped coffee. zoom calls with friends. more time to read. the wind in the trees while im on the phone. the sun through the window when i eat breakfast at noon. these small good things will carry me through to the big good things.