I’m sitting here listening to the weather. Not the weather report, the weather. The real deal. The sound of rain blowing through the pines. Beating against the widows. Spilling over the gutter onto the patio.
The sounds of winter when it’s not quite cold enough to snow. The sound that will keep the pastures alive this summer. That will help the trees retain some moisture during fire season.
I’ve been listening to for days. It’s the most beautiful music, especially coming so late in the driest of dry winters.
That, my friends, is the number one thing I give thanks for this week.
Although the roof over my head and the fire in the wood stove are a close second. Creature comforts are a good thing.
Speaking about creatures and their comforts, it a wet world outside these days. There’s standing water everywhere. Puddles and mud. Puddles and mud. The ponies are hanging out in what I call the barn but it’s really a three sided shed that keeps them high and dry and out of the wind. They can go in and out as they please. When the weather is…weather, I make sure they have a nice fluffy bed of shavings to keep them warm.
And no one appreciates that more than my boy, Saki, AKA Pony-My-Heart. The sight of Mom lugging a bag of shavings through the mud gets him all aquiver. He’s all over me as I slice open the plastic. Nuzzles the bag. Pawing impatiently. Making excited little noises deep in his throat. Can barely contain himself as I dump the shavings onto the mat. And then he’s down on his knees, over on his back. Grunting and groaning and rolling like he’s the happiest boy on the planet. And for a couple of minutes I think he is.
The wind is picking up right now, driving the rain against the roof. It’s a comforting sound. In a few minutes I’ll climb into bed. We always sleep with a bedroom window open, no matter what the weather. I’ll snuggle under the covers. The rain and wind will sound like I’m right there. Outside, in the thick of it. Like a lullabye it will lull me to sleep.
It’s cold outside. Gray sky, snow on the ground. A taste of the winter that hasn’t happened yet this year. Been snowing for two days. And, at this elevation, raining too. So not much accumulation at the Porterosa. We’re in the canyon, headed down towards the river. But five minutes away, headed uphill…fuhgedaboutit. Schools are closed. Aliens have landed. Storm troopers are skiing off of roof tops. It’s hell out there.
Go up an hour and they got four FEET. That’s feet. Which is why we live down here.
But I’m inside. School’s closed, remember. No work today. I’ve got a fire to warm my toes. A couple of PUPPIES to warm my lap. Tea. Chocolate.
Ahhhh…blueberries! Fresh, plump, ripe, oozing-sweet-yummy-lusciousness BLUEBERRIES!!! What’s not to love? Especially when they’re the first fresh ones of the season, the season being somewhere else of course because even though it’s been unseasonably WARM this winter, at least around here, it ain’t summer yet.
Look at these beauties! Winter oranges, berry goodness and walnut bits. A bowl full of organic sweetness. Each bite a tasty pleasure. And the berries are sale right now at the co-op. Even better, right? I’ve been going in every other day or so and picking up a carton.
Blueberries…the # 1 thing on my bliss list this week.
And because there’s NO WAY I can top that, I’m going to skip right down to #5 because it’s the BIGGEST, the BEST bliss of all…I’m being nice to myself tonight. I’m tired. So I’m not going to write anymore. I’m going to shut down the computer. Turn off the TV and Go. To. Bed.
I like this on-going bliss list thing. Makes me stop and notice the little moments, the ones that might get away otherwise. Makes me stop and go AHA! now this is something worth remembering.
Like the full moon in a rain so soft it’s not really rain, just moisture in the air. Watching it rise up through the woods. Through the pines. And then in the wee hours, when I wake up and look out the window and the ground looks like it’s covered in snow. But it’s not. It’s moonlight.
Like when I’m lovin’ on the ponies, saying goodnight. I make the kiss-kissy sounds and old horse cranes her neck forward so I can plant one on her nose, while the boy gives a soft, quick bump of his lips against my forehead.
Like Sophie. Always bliss. ALWAYS. Look at that face! And I can’t have a bliss list without a dog now, can I?
Like sitting on the sofa with DaughterDear, reminiscing about Mama, her Grandma. Telling stories. Laughing.
Like waking up the day AFTER the stomach flu and feeling NORMAL. Normal…Oh. My. God. NORMAL!!! Oh yes, now THAT’S what I call BLISS!
Your turn, my sweetums. Leave your lists in the comments below. And for more feel good blogs today, hop on over to Liv Lane and check out The Little Bliss List BLog Hop.
Oh, what a lovely list of bliss this week. It was my birthday, you see, as trillions GAZILLIONS of my not-so-nearest but definitely DEAREST best friends EVER posted greetings on my Facebook wall. Ah, I am still basking in the luuuuuuuuv, my sweetums. Positively glowing. In fact I’m glowing so much we don’t even need the lights on tonight.
Now that’s bliss.
And so is this. Portebella ‘burger’ with roasted red pepper, melted cheese. Brie? Brie? I do not recall but IT WAS DELICIOUS. Beyond delicious. It was BLISS ON A BUN. And the salad dressing was some sort of garlic attack in the most goodly of ways.
And of course there was puppy love. There is always puppy love on my list. Count on it. This week the puppy really is a puppy. Just a baby.
Awwwww…Look at that fat little belly. Soft little puppy hair. PUPPY BREATH! Don’t you just want to pick him up and kiss him! And kiss him! And kiss him!!! And snuggle him against your shoulder and KISS his little head and make silly little sing song noises like a completely besotted fool.
Don’t you?
There is NOTHING that brings your blood pressure down better than a puppy. Especially a sleepy puppy. Nothing.
My co-workers and I are lining up to love on the newest perk at work…BUBBA. Not to be confused with the late, great Bubba mine. Who was the best dog ever, RIP. May baby Bub grow into the next best dog ever.
Speaking of work…ta ta…a collaborative painting by two of my favorite students. Two of my absolute favorite people who just happen to have Down Syndrome. This photograph doesn’t begin to do the painting justice. Layers and layers of jewel tone glazes make the underpainting POP. And it’s for sale. The artists get 60% of the profits. The rest goes towards purchasing new supplies for the Neighborhood Center of the Arts. You can read all about this place here. And if you’re interested let me know.
And if you could see these guys paint…oh man, it’s even better than puppy breath. And how do you top that??? They LOVE to paint. They LIVE to paint. Totally focused, totally into it. No inner critic on their shoulders. They just PAINT. And smile and laugh and sing and dance.
And what would a week be without chocolate? This week’s yummiest bliss is the. most. DECADENT. brownie. EVER!!! It’s baked in the local co-op, in their own little bakery. And oh my, I cannot eat more than a smidgen at a time. It’s that rich. I had about a quarter of it over two days and gave the rest away to three other people. And it’s only maybe three inches square, total.
It’s. That. Rich. Which bears repeating…so I did.
Those are all good things. Happy feeling making things. But the thing that came beyond all that, beyond even puppy breath and chocolate, the thing that sent the Bliss-O-Meter over the top—
ahhh… the absolute KNOWING that this space, this studio-in-the-making, is the right place at the right time of my life.
I’d love to hear from you. What rocked your world this week? What made you smile? Share it in the comments section below. We all want to know.
