Small delights I’ll seek again

this is not not a list of things I'm grateful for

Driving to the beach alone and taking a nap on the sand. Waking up to find the place near empty, the water full of windsurfers. One launches himself into the air, an infinity between him and the waves. How does he come back to the water and remain standing? I say “wow” to no one.

Eating ice cream after a day reading in the sun.

Admiring a dog sitting in the passenger seat of a convertible. The top is down but the dog sticks his head out over the window anyway. He wants to smell everything.

Moving to the shade when the sun gets too hot and enjoying the way the leaves quake in the breeze.

Smelling the dusty-sunshine sweat of the fur on the top of my dog’s head after she’s been outside on a warm day.

Watching a mother duck and her brood of four ducklings as they grow from freshly hatched, egg-shaped beings into something more like their adult selves.

The feeling of a night that’s the same temperature as my skin.

Asking for and receiving a head massage.

Turning a watermelon into sorbet. Adding chocolate chips just before it’s done so it looks like seeds but is tastier.

The sound of a bumble bee buzzing the pollen off a flower.

Putting down a book I’m not enjoying and picking up another and another until I find what I didn’t know I was looking for. Underlining everything.

The sight of a gosling whose down hasn’t quite fallen off his adult feathers yet. He’s in between. He looks like he walked through a field of dandelion seeds.

Putting my feet in the water. Letting them cool.

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Notes

Every time I go to work or see a friend they mention that I look like I’ve been “getting some sun”. It’s true! I’ve started most of my days this week by spending a few hours with a book and my notebook at the river and it’s been an absolute delight. I can’t wait to do it again today! (I do wear sunscreen.)

Eating an ice cream outside of Cloud and Leaf bookstore after a day at the beach

I read and loved Vauhini Vara’s short story collection This is Salvaged. Novels are great but a good short story collection is so satisfying. Sometimes I want to be immersed in a book but sometimes I just want to dip in for a little 20 minute reading treat. Short stories are perfect for a busy summer day when you can’t spend all day with a book at the beach but want to get some reading done anyway.

If you want to pick up a short story collection but aren’t sure where to start, I’ve collected my recommendations into one Bookshop.org page for your reading pleasure!

My other favorite read was by Martha Grover, a Portland writer I think is absolutely brilliant. Her book isn’t available on Bookshop but you can buy it here. It’s a “just trust me” read. Truly, every book of hers I read I wind up raving about. If you’re in Portland you can buy all of her books (and often meet her in person!) at Grover’s Curiosity Shop.

I’ll be back next week with another essay and another Revisionary Q&A with a musician whose song may have made you cry at the end of a certain movie…

Until then,

What delighted you today?

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Because all writers have a never-ending hope of finding ways to make writing financially sustainable, I’ve opened a Bookshop.org affiliate page. If you buy any of the books I mention in this newsletter, I will get a small commission and will use it to buy myself more books.