Grateful

I know this whole, "List things you're grateful for" thing is all en vogue at the moment, but, well I don't have a rebuttal to that. I'm just participating. Vogue. Strike a pose.

 

Today I'm grateful for the following:

 

The affordability of tea

 

The return to rest after missteps and misspoken words

 

Pants that fit

 

Pop music

 

Minty, silky lip balm

 

Opportunities

 

Cheap, walk-in massage places

 

Running into a friend at the store in a city of 4 million

 

To be reading again. Beautiful novels and silly junk alike.

 

When I am window shopping and reason with myself, "Bails, you already have that at home," the statement is true. I am not without.

 

Same thing goes for friends. I have those in abundance.

 

If I never publish or even write a book, I am still a child of God and I still hold value in the lives of many

 

Payday tomorrow

 

Squishy blond nephews

 

Max is digging his new salmon/egg/sweet potato food

 

A planned read-along of Steinbeck with a precious girlfriend

 

Casual Friday

 

Clean hair

 

Nail clippers

 

Epsom salt, infused with eucalyptus

 

Feeling the bags under my eyes goes heavy as I pause to listen to meditation music

 

Eased traffic now that school is out

 

Quoting Cool Runnings with a friend via text and laughing maniacally out loud in a public place

 

Feeling safe, even when discontent

 

A box of mac and cheese waiting for me in the pantry

 

Parents who answer the phone several times a week and spend 40 minutes jabbering with me during every call

 

The strange, unknown reason why I am a magnet for my girlfriends' hand-me-down clothes

 

Friends who blaze their own trail. Even though their journeys make me jealous, they do show me that paths are many.

 

Simple, colorful, pendant necklaces

 

Invites to concerts and dinners before each show

 

Room temperature, sliced tomatoes with salt

 

Perfume

 

Cracking up at texts from my brothers

 

This new sunscreen that Neutrogena put out that smells ever so slightly of coconuts

 

All the daylight, and the hug of warm air that greets me after work

 

The harmony of Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins, a cappella, and that some genius was smart enough to record it before the latter passed

 

Antacids

 

Naps

 

Local breweries

 

People who are kind. Always people who are kind. They resuscitate and embolden me again and again.