Grace in Small Things 36:365

1. Tiny LED bedside lights that give just enough illumination at night.

2. The quiet in the house as people and things power down for a night of sleep.

3. The small sounds that newspaper makes when one is handling it.

4. The tiniest slivers of two more little baby teeth suddenly appear!

5. The giggly feeling of anticipation as well-written humor builds and of satisfaction as it peaks.
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Grace in Small Things 35:365

1. The mournful yet alert sound of trains at night, rumbling and wailing in the near distance.

2. Childhood birthday cake: vanilla cake with tart lemon filling and sweet-soft-meringue frosting scattered with coconut.

3. Large lively family birthday parties.

4. Tiny lentils in a spicy stew.

5. Babies laughing over the simplest things: balloons, cats chasing a laser dot, flashlights, silly sound effects.
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Grace in Small Things 34:365

1. Free time to hack back the household weeds.

2. Sunny and pleasant Saturdays.

3. Adorable kitten videos.

4. Letting go of that dress I haven't worn, will not wear and have never worn.

5. Reminders to drink my water and stay hydrated.
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Grace in Small Things 33:365

1. Beating the storm home. Skies went from dusky to dark to scary in a hurry. I just made it as the lightning started to crack it open.

2. Small, colorful nested prep bowls. I so love prep bowls.

3. Blueberry-cranberry sour cream coffee cake. I got the last piece and shared it with my husband.

4. Strumming 3-chord songs and singing along. oh my darling Clementine, oh brother how my heart grows weary, singing Pollywaddledoodle all the day

5. Happy baby smiling wide and showing off her first teeth. The grin is so wide and the teeth, so serrated. Believe that they are sharp!
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Grace in Small Things 32:365

1. Colorful, nested food-prep bowls.

2. Apple pie crumble with a hint of crunchy-crisp burnt sugar on the pastry.

3. Hummus with roasted pine nuts.

4. Rain coming down in a thundering sheet.

5. Seeing people dance with such joy on their faces and in their bodies.
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Grace in Small Things 31:365

1. Open air amphitheaters.

2. Applause that sounds like rain pattering.

3. Homemade oatmeal muffins.

4. Baby decides she likes eating after all.

5. Live music sound effects at puppet shows.
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Grace in Small Things 30:365

1. Cool weather crickets singing.

2. Back to school mornings.

3. Full moon light turning leaves all silvery.

4. Slap bass. e.g. heard on Come On In by Skeedaddle .

5. Sweaty but enthusiastic dancers.
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Grace in Small Things 29:365

1. The advent of apple season.

2. Far-off lines of trees against the swells of a landscape.

3. Colorful sticky-notes for daily task lists.

4. Ticklish baby bellies.

5. Duck tape.
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Grace in Small Things 28:365

1. Grace in Small Things, which prompts me to look at the good side of life.

2. Pushpins on cork board.

3. Inspired pasta salad combinations - thrifty, filling, and healthy.

4. Friends who give high fives and appreciation.

5. Cooler days.
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Grace in Small Things 27:365

1. Locally grown ginger-gold apples.

2. A friend's glowing over a budding relationship.

3. Older women who call you "hon" and "sweetie" in the shops.

4. Lactating breasts that make as much or more milk as needed. *drip drip drip*

5. Crickets singing at night.
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Grace in Small Things 26:365

1. Thunderstorms that roll through with dramatic lightning and drenching rains.

2. Creamy havarti cheese. I could eat this on rye every day and often do.

3. A clear sunny day to pick blueberries, diving into the bushes and brushing aside branches and leaves to find the undiscovered ripe ones.

4. Being reminded of swimming in lakes and ponds of my youth. Does that not spell "Summer"?

5. "I just can't, I just can't, I just can't control my feet. Don't blame it on the sunshine, don't blame it on the moonlight, don't blame it on the good times; blame it on the boogie."

Grace in Small Things 25:365

1. Blueberry cobbler, still warm from the oven, with ice cream on top, and shared.

2. Philosophical discussions about our parents and what we would do the same or differently as them as we parent our own children.

3. A highlight of Summer: light, antipasto dinners with all food freshly picked from local gardens.

4. Refining a clean new logic out of an overgrown filing system.

5. Crosswords puzzles in the newspaper.
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Grace in Small Things 24:365

1. Ear plugs for babies: bright hazard orange balls of silicon with just enough stickiness to stay put when mashed into place.

2. Lentil stew with kale, garlic, carrots, tomatoes, savory, bay leaf, oregano, and green curry paste.

3. La la la, la la la, Elmo's Song! "To think he wrote it himself!"

4. Baby giggles when one cleans under their chin.

5. Compact fluorescent light bulbs that last a looong time, use hardly any wattage and put out hardly any extra heat.
--

Grace in Small Things 23:365

1. Finding the perfect fabric for curtains and plotting out the design.

2. Red-clay and its strong and earthy personality. This makes me think of:

Red-clay bowls by local old-time potters. Red with a thin white glaze so that the red peeks through, and perfectly sized for a morning breakfast or an evening snack.

Red-clay mud in the swamp.

Then being reminded of a Gillian Welch song, Red Clay Halo:

All the girls all dance with the boys from the city,
And they don't care to dance with me.
Now it ain't my fault that the fields are muddy,
And the red clay stains my feet.

And it's under my nails and it's under my collar,
And it shows on my Sunday clothes.
Though I do my best with the soap and the water,
But the damned old dirt won't go.

But when I pass through the pearly gate,
Will my gown be gold instead?
Or just a red clay robe with red clay wings,
And a red clay halo for my head?

Now it's mud in the spring and it's dust in the summer,
When it blows in a crimson tide.
Until trees and leaves and the cows are the colour,
Of the dirt on the mountainside.

But when I pass through the pearly gate,
Will my gown be gold instead?
Or just a red clay robe with red clay wings,
And a red clay halo for my head?

Now Jordan's banks they're red and muddy,
And the rolling water is wide.
But I got no boat, so I'll be good and muddy,
When I get to the other side.

And when I pass through the pearly gate,
Will my gown be gold instead?
Or just a red clay robe with red clay wings,
And a red clay halo for my head?

I'll take the red clay robe with the red clay wings,
And a red clay halo for my head.

3. Little baby learning the best way to suck her thumb. It's the dearest, cutest thing I've seen this week.

4. An unexpected pink-blooming salvia amongst the purple ones.

5. Calm words of love and affirmation.
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Grace in Small Things 22:365

1. A soft profusion of peony petals.

2. A steady rain soaking the garden overnight.

3. A chat program that allows me to hold real-time conversations - in no less than a single day or hour - with friends down the block, across the city, across the state, on the other end of the coast and on the other side of the world.

4. Big white boards for writing out lists, plans, diagrams, and ideas.

5. Bare feet sliding between cool cotton sheets.
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Grace in Small Things 21:365

1. Volunteer tomato plant!

2. Containers of basil seedings that can be divided into more than one plant.

3. Marigolds with a maroon ruff.

4. Meeting friends in the neighborhood and spontaneously joining for a portion of our respective walks.

5. The scent of honeysuckle heavy in the night air.
--

Grace in Small Things 20:365

1. Big paperclips that keep things neatly together.

2. Knobbed whelk shells from the beach, bleached and graceful.

3. Musicians who play live for dances, putting themselves into the tune to create that moment in time.

4. People who keep wanting to pass on baby clothes to us.

5. The ache in my breasts that tells me it's time to feed the little wookie again and reminding how we are inextricably bound together.
--

Grace in Small Things 19:365

1. Gingersnaps.

2. The start of strawberry-picking season!

3. Thrift-store stroller that has even better suspension than my car!

4. Being reminded to sort paper for ART: Action, Reference or Trash.

5. The crisp-heavy rumple-y sound of a comforter encased in good sheets being adjusted.
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Grace in Small Things 18:365

1. Mexican-Chocolate Locopop. (creamy chocolate Mexican palete with cinnamon)

2. The breeze that cools and refreshes the sweaty hair at the back of ones neck.

3. Almost everybody loves seeing a baby. At least, when they are not crying. The baby, I mean.

4. Dental floss picks.

5. The time of year when the yellow iris blooms again.

Bonus visual from almost exactly one year ago:

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Grace in Small Things 17:365

1. Blustery sunny weather.

2. Grocery stores that stay open 24 hours a day.

3. Good memories of people who are passed and gone.

4. Pretty green-purple sweet potato leaves.

5. Colorful, washable cloth napkins for any occasion.