• our
lovely little home, its coziness, its solidness, everything it has offered us
in security, safety, and containing (barely) our love and hijinks
• my
family: those here: Spitfire, Boy Wonder, Bug, and Gpa; those not: Geeps and
Gma, Mimi and Magic, Nana Banana (wherever you are), Keen
• butterflies
birds & bees, and other critters
• sunshine,
almost every day of the year
• the
cat, who tears up the furniture but has put up with us all these long years and
loves her little boy
• the
dog, who hears no more and has slowed in her gittalong, but has been my
co-pilot for 16 years and has eyes for no one but me
• the
bird girls, who give me eggs everyday tho I promise them nothing
• good
neighbors, who I hesitate to ever leave, tho the house grows ever smaller
• Gpa,
who helps me out and keeps me company, and his presence the thing we never knew
we were lacking that makes our family tree sturdier rooted in this desert’s
harsh soil
• Bug,
who has brought me this far and I’d be lost without, who keeps me grounded and
allows me to soar, who gives me the craziest gifts like these here young’uns
• Spitfire,
who keeps me on my toes and conspires with me to lofty heights (nothing is beyond
your reach), and animates my world
• Boy
Wonder, who populates it with sound effects and who shows surprising
sensitivity and thoughtfulness, taking care of those older than him, and is
always interested in the same geeky things I am (geography, puzzles, Legos,
trains, Star Wars…)
• books,
their writers, their pages, their printers and publishers and agents and all
the business that goes into getting them on library shelves and into our
waiting hands and minds
• art,
in all its forms, even if it’s disturbing and I don’t want to look at it, and
those brave or brazen who make it
• my
hands, that help me care for those around me and make art and write when I can
muster it
• technology,
that brings together communities and information to seekers, despite its many
flaws
• trees,
grass, crops and all things green, growing & beautiful
• water,
that nourishes all this, the earth, our food, us
• food,
the hands who make it, the hands who grow it, the warmth a lovingly prepared
meal gives the house
• health,
the good health of my family and friends, and access to great healthcare,
including so many amazing professionals we’ve been lucky enough to find, who
help us care for ourselves and others
• community,
those we gather around us, good friends, budding and potential friends, the
energy we give and get back
• work,
the purpose it gives us and the security it gives back
• ideas,
those we can’t shake and those that shake us up
• beauty,
which I can’t seem to escape, tho admittedly I don’t try
