There are lots of big unhappy things happening across the world and it is easy to get lost in them. But there are many small happy things as well. You just need to pay attention and you will find them. Here are some I’ve noticed today.
There is a beautiful pair of jays building a nest in the top of a tall tree right outside my bedroom window. When I wake up in the morning, I watch them very busily working in tandem to some internally programmed choreography. Our garden is filled with hard-working birds right now, but these jays pull me in. They are so earnest.
There are also frogs in our small garden pond this week, very actively reproducing. This used to be a yearly occurrence in early spring. One day the pond would be literally frothing, as a host of frogs came from out of seemingly nowhere to mate. We called it “frog-f*cking day” and it was the sign that spring was here. I always wonder what the cue is; how do they all know which day to congregate? For weeks afterwards, we could watch as the tadpoles hatched and grew. There have been no frogs in our garden for the past 4-5 years; we thought they had gone for good. But here they are again; big, fat, healthy frogs churning up the pond. Maybe they know something we don’t?
Doug decided to make his own yoghurt again. He used to make it all the time, but hasn’t in many years. The yoghurt is luscious, light and creamy and delicious. We have been eating it with a spoonful of Leah’s home-made jam. Leah made this jam with peaches that we bought late last summer in the Okanagan, perfectly ripe and juicy and sun-kissed. We were on a road trip, the four of us, to enjoy some gorgeous scenery and to go wine-tasting and buy the wine for Emma’s wedding. Leah also used fresh vanilla and cinnamon that Emma had brought back for her from Kerala, where she had travelled for a friend’s wedding. Each bite of this is not only delicious, home-made goodness, but reminds me of summer and peaches, mountain lakes and gorgeous wines, family road trips and weddings.
Yarn and knitting are a happy place for me, and what can be happier than the gorgeous colours and patterns emerging now as I knit the yoke on my newest project? The design and yarn are from Kate Davies. I mostly stopped doing colourwork since I had covid in 2022, as brain fog made it really hard to concentrate. I am loving every stitch.
Small happy things are everywhere if we take the time to notice them.
Thank you for a nice, positive post. It’s been a long snowy winter, here in New England. I’ll start looking for the cheery signs of spring you’ve mentioned.
Thank you for the reminder that little joys can turn into lasting contentment over a days time. Here it is the complete melting of snow and more grass showing every day. Doves and robins appearing, birdsong in the morning after a long winter of silence. Happy spring to you and your sweater looks lovely.
Love hearing happy things and seeing wildlife makes me happy! We are wintering for a few weeks in the sunny south, leaving the Ontario snow and cold behind. Last week we went for a picnic, saw a loon on the water on Perdido Bay in Pensacola and 3 small dolphins frolicking in the water ….. nothing better to enjoy! That and knitting my Fjolla by Isabelle Kraemer in Rowan felted tweed at a local yarn shop weekly knitting group here makes me happy!