#10

For community, all those trusted souls I turn to in times good and bad.  For the ever-changing sky that reminds me storms will pass, the sun will scorch and then ebb back into another hemisphere for a season, cumulus days will return, and the future will still hold as much love as we can cram into each day.

#9

For food in my belly, good food.  A solid roof over my head.  For peace on my doorstep.  For access to education for every member of my family.  For the library, which provides so much of it (for free!).  For freedom.  For the lovely mouths I feed each day.  The clean clothes I wrap my beloveds in.  The love I cloak them in.  And for love... and for love... and for love... everywhere it comes home to roost.

#8

For the citrus smell that lingers on my hands after I peel an orange to share with my son.  As Pablo Neruda wrote, "Orange, / the world was made / in your likeness."  I can share the world with him, bit by bit, the sweet and freshness of it, and carry some reminiscence with me.

#7

For unexpected opportunities, like my in-laws from across the country potentially moving in to our guest house, and the extended possibility that my brother-in-law might come, too, from China.  You never know how the trajectory of your life might turn on a dime, in a day, and how perceived tragedies might bring with them unexpected blessings.

#6

During a week bookended by holidays, I spotted a butterfly flitting about my neighborhood on Christmas Eve, drove two hours north to meet Santa on a train and play in the snow, narrowly escaped being stranded by a blizzard, saw snow flurries in north Phoenix, and watched Spitfire take her first tentative steps on a pair of roller skates.  Despite never really having settled in to life in the desert, this week has held a mystique that can't be found in many places, and reminds me to appreciate what this place has to offer.  After all, if you can't be with the one you love... love the one you're with.

#5

The unexpected gift of having a sick kid and knowing you'll be spending a quiet day at home with her--the child you rarely get to spend time with alone because she's in school five days a week.  There's nothing on the calendar, you've found a substitute to help in your son's class, and the promise of a sunny day stretches out before you.