[carried home]

the kettle burned 'cause we left it too long
and we were kissing with the radio on


-iron&wine


[seek up]


a lovely person in my life once introduced me to the idea of "top fives". "top fives" can be a list of five things, typically the five best things in your life at that current moment. it can, however, also be adjusted to whatever topic so desired, such as "top five reasons to vent," "top five things that went wrong today," "top five people," etc. she also introduced me to the scent of patchouli, farmer's market fresh sandwiches, measuring lengths of parts of the body, the joys of reading to another person, being absolutely comfortable with yourself, and slowing the rhythm of the world, however, these are beside the point.

here are my top fives for today (in no particular order):
1. morning runs
2. seeing the humor in nearly everything
3. the ridiculous things small children say (for example, small german children that rant about scary monsters that come out on St. Nicklaus's day in the middle of a reading lesson :)
4. having a wonderful person in my life that loves to cook (and text me at work)
5. setting up "book buddies" with my students!

today (and recently) it's been particularly easy to see the good in things and the beauty around me. my trigger finger's been itchy for that camera, however, i always seem to be in the most inopportune spots when i see the most glorious sights. i'm practically bubbling over with joy, however, there's a nagging part of me that can't help but feel that it's all too good to be true and that something bad is bound to happen.

and i know it will.

obviously i don't know what will happen, i'm not psychic. but i do recognize that there is a rise and fall, an ebb and flow to fortune in life. the chinese example of fortune as a ferris wheel - you will be at the top, but you will also spend time at the bottom before coming back around - is one that particularly resonates for me. things are lovely now, though i know that there will be unpleasant disruptions. life goes on and on in it's great circle, and what is now will be again at some point.

but in this moment, i'm celebrating what i find to be good. which is quite a bit.


peace.