Musing of Nieces and Nephews

I have a niece and a nephew. My niece, Tacori, is about a year old, has beautiful blue eyes, loves to cuddle ... and is a purebred Alaskan husky. My nephew, Raleigh, is almost three years old, likes to crawl in people's laps, likes to have someone blow on his nose, has enormous ears ... and is the most lovable hound dog I've ever seen.

Today is looking up, considerably, and not really because of any one event or turn of events or anything like that. It's just been a consistently good day.

Lunch with Kristie and Geoff. Quick trips to two of my favorite places -- Night Herron Books and the Chocolate Cellar -- for "be nice to Sarah" treats ... a trip to the Copper Kettle to get coffee from their coffee bar and to peruse the local artwork that decorates their walls ... and then to the hair salon with Kristie, to watch the practice run of the magic that will be her hairstyle on her wedding day.

It seemed surreal, to watch my best friend, my sister, get her hair done for her wedding. It's really happening. And then hang time with Raleigh and Geoff and Kristie just before work. The weather, despite the ever-present wind, is nice and sunny (see? I appreciate sunshine ..), ReliantK's song about being sunny with a high of 75 was on the radio, followed by the Newsboys singing about things that are beautiful.

The whole day has been beautiful; little things have made it that way. The chocolate's good, the crawfish etouffé was good, the company is always good ... and I finally whittled away the pile of newspapers that had begun towering over my kitchen table. Life is clean(er); life tastes sweet and savory; life is good.

I hope that something beautiful has encountered you today, that you got to have good chocolate, that an annoying coworker called in sick, that you found a flower pushing up through the ground that gave you hope for spring and new life, that someone gave you a compliment that seemed like sunshine on your morning, that your barrista gave you an extra shot of espresso. The small stuff today shouldn't cause a sweat; it should, rather, cause a smile, a warming of the heart, an ear-to-ear grin.