I wrote my last two blogs posts about what I’d (not) been doing since university classes and final exams ended in mid-April. However, along with needing to recover and catch up on household tasks, I also was able to notice small beautiful life moments. For the past three and a half years, I have been deliberately trying to notice whatever is in my path in any given moment. In January 2022 with a friend, I had begun a study of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, and I really got into trying to notice more things in life. This was one way of dealing with the aftermath of our beloved daughter’s accident nearly four years ago. I snap random photos whenever something captures my attention, and I saw that the photos in this post went together under a theme of life’s small pleasures. Enjoy!
That beloved daughter of mine (who is doing much better, thankfully!!!!) visited us over a May weekend. I don’t think she deliberately came because it happened to be Mother’s Day that weekend, but when I arose that Sunday morning, this was waiting for me at the table! This beloved of mine is endlessly creative – just look at how the French toast is arranged on the plate, how carefully she arranged each type of berry, and the light sprinkle of coconut. When it comes to food, she loves to present it beautifully. She also knows my love for peanut butter cups, haha. To me, this photo represents not only her style and creativity; it also represents how much healing has occurred in her brain after it was so horribly injured in July 2021. We are endlessly grateful for her survival and the recovery progress she has made.
Just LOOK at this most beautiful of dogs!! Her name is Lucy, and she arrived in our daughter’s life a few years before the accident and at a time when our daughter needed a dog to love. When our kids were growing up, we were not able to have pets due to 3/4 of us having allergies. However, our daughter seemed to not be as allergic when she got older, and she adopted this beauty. I loved having cats and dogs when I was growing up, but for some reason, I did not want to get used to this dog – maybe because I’d gone so long without pets? Anyway, darling daughter would bring this beauty around when visiting us, and I of course fell completely in love with her sweet nature. And this dog always comes running to our car or up to our house whenever we were around – she somehow knows the car and the house and loves coming to see us! She rushes in and instantly snuggles up to whoever is waiting for her at the door and make this wonderful yowling noise that makes her seem so happy. Anyway, here is that beautiful pupster, on our couch, with our daughter’s head resting on her. HOW COULD ANYONE EVER RESIST THIS FACE.
I was walking in Halifax one day trying to locate the student financial assistance office, when I stumbled across this giant wall mural on the side of a building. It’s just so full of gorgeous pink colours juxtaposed against black, flowers, music, collaboration, contemplation. It stopped me in my tracks. Another street I see several days a week on my bus travels is Gottingen Street in Halifax; this street is full of murals on buildings. I love seeing public art.
Finally, here is another pair of socks I recently finished knitting. I got serious about sock knitting around the beginning of 2022, and since then I have completed three pairs (I forgot to take photos of the orange pair I knit throughout my first year of university!), the most recent being this red pair. After that first pair, the whole project became a lot easier for me. I feel competent, knowing I can produce a pair of socks for myself! I think this pair shows much improvement from my first pair (the teal pair). As soon as I finished these, blocked them, and added them to my closet; I started my fourth pair. This pair is a bright yellow. Yes, OF COURSE I have sock yarns, each in a bright colour! What else would you expect from me?? I aim for eight pairs of wool socks, all in this pattern. By the time I finish my eighth pair, though, I may have to learn sock-darning, haha. You never know, though, I have gotten faster at knitting these things. In fact, it has only taken me a few weeks to nearly finish the first of the yellow socks, whereas before, it took many months!! Anyway, I now know the joy of wool socks – they are sooooo warm in winter, and they are breathable in the warmer spring and fall months.
Alright, I would like to know what small pleasures you are noticing these days! What sights, sounds, smells, feels, tastes stop you and make you appreciate life right now?