The day ended as well as it began.

I left work feeling no sense of dread that something was left undone. I went home, and despite the usual attempts at rationalizing why I had everything to do but exercise, I exercised.

The sun was out. This has so much to do with my sense of joy. I opened the curtain on the shower and let the light pour in as I looked out over the water. Fantastic!

No sense wasting sunlight, so I was on the motorcycle by 5:15. I rode to the grocery store and picked up a few things. Those of you who ride (or know anything about the physics of gyroscopes) will laugh to think of my uneven saddlebags: one side was ground beef and croissants, the other was 14 pounds of kitty litter. Talk about some fun handling, there!

The shaded parts of the winding road to my house were definitely still cold, but out in the sun, I could almost pretend it was late spring. I will continue to pretend - it's a great place to imagine.

Coming up my outer stairs, again looking out over the water, I could smell wood smoke and salt water and the sweet air of trees doing their best at evapo-transpiration. Puget Sound was as calm as a morning lake. If I had had some firewood, I would have sat by a beach fire and just drunk it in.

Oh, this place is so good now, I can hardly wait to see what it's like in summer. Y'all come back now, y'hear?