some small things that have touched my heart in the past few days/weeks:

-yesterday i saw my friends ember and john in the vitamin aisle at whole foods. she was perusing the Vitamin D supplements and he was busying himself by her side, clearly not searching for anything, just being there with her as she looked. i thought to myself how wonderful and special it was that they could do such mundane things together and in such comfort with each other...it seemed that in that moment,  he was simply supporting her as she catered to her own well being...quite special and perhaps easily overlooked, but i feel frequent pangs of being without that, and it hit me right in the old heart. 

-i cracked a walnut open the other day with my rolling pin and the two halves each revealed the inner walnut as a heart. i gave thanks at that moment for life, beauty.

-this morning i made a cookie dough i've never made before: a quinoa/wheat dough with mandarin zest and chocolate flecks. as i folded in the chocolate, i breathed in the rich, nutty aroma of the dough and a deep feeling of groundedness and place rushed through my veins.

-this week, our best gardener at the community gardens decided to give up his plots. i met him for a hand-over and the detail and care with which he described his plants and what they liked and what they needed touched me deeply. at the end of our conversation, he went over to a little crumpled bag by the hose and pulled out folded packets of seeds, a gardening book, an old trowel, a water key and twist ties which he'd religiously used in his days as a gardener there and handed them all over to me...i felt as though i had been given his first born...a mixture of melancholy and deep gratitude...

-last weekend i held a tiny baby rabbit for half an hour as we trudged through the forest. he and his brothers and sisters had been left alone for the weekend and we were taking them to the farm house to be watched over. he nestled his tiny little black head onto my bosom and reached his little paw towards my shoulder...i held him close and could feel his little heart beating.

-last week my dear friend mike sent me a curious package and contained within was some music, four Zots candies and a slingshot. i nearly cried.

-this past week, sorrel and i attended a seed saving class in richmond with rebecca. this woman, who is our mentor and hero, is now a friend...she asked us to pipe up and help instruct the class, and after the class, she shared with us a funny video that her mother had sent her that captured some carrots that she had grown out from rebecca's seed. there we were, three women, bonding over seeds and community. as we left, sorrel rifled through the trash can and pulled out some cardboard that one of the other students had thrown away, letting nothing go to waste. i can still summon the feeling of belonging from that night...