Things I am grateful for today

• The sun's surprise reminder of warmth on my face when I step into the backyard after lurking in bed sick with a cold
• That the starling sitting at the top of the spruce tree soaking up the rays doesn't feel remotely offended that my immediate thought upon resolving its shape into something I recognize is "Oh, just a starling"
• The moment when a gull goes overhead and I get a hit of dopamine as my brain toys for a split-second with whether it might, in fact, be a cool raptor
• That Mourning Doves look so peaceful and naive when they're plodding around beneath the feeder, but when they think you're not looking, engage in vicious territorial disputes with each other
• The fact that the silence and privacy I prize too dearly is broken by my neighbor starting a conversation
• The hot drink of lemon juice and water and honey that soothes my jagged throat and makes me think of my dad standing in the kitchen making this
• The chicken that is being transformed with red wine into a stew in the crock pot 
• This cosseted life of hot tea and warm baths and double-paned windows