If yesterday was an embarrassment of riches where I had to work to whittle down my list of good things to only three, today was the opposite of that.
It’s been a hard day. Not for any particular reason, but rather the weight of a thousand different reasons simply became too much to carry for a bit. I think maybe we’re all having that happen from time to time right now—some days just feel heavier and we suddenly find ourselves sobbing in the shower for no reason and all the reasons, all at the same time.
Today was that day for me.
But tonight we had breakfast for supper, which is my favorite … and that’s the first good thing.
The second is that I listened to my 90s country playlist while I cooked and introduced the kids to George Strait and Travis Tritt and Tim McGraw and by the time the pancakes were golden and the bacon was crispy, I was smiling and singing at the top of my lungs. You can’t listen to “It’s A Great Day To Be Alive” and not feel at least a little better.
But there almost wasn’t a third, until five minutes ago when a friend texted me this poem by Wendell Berry:
“Stay Home”
I will wait here in the fields
to see how well the rain
brings on the grass.
In the labor of the fields
longer than a man's life
I am at home. Don't come with me.
You stay home too.
I will be standing in the woods
where the old trees
move only with the wind
and then with gravity.
In the stillness of the trees
I am at home. Don't come with me.
You stay home too.
And just like that, at 10 p.m., I have my three good things.
P.S. If you need more Wendell Berry (and I think we could all use more Wendell Berry right now), may I suggest “The Peace of Wild Things”?