Snapped today. See item number 3 on my list.

Again, I share my monthly gratitude list. Twenty-six things that make me happy on this, the 26th day of December, should they be of interest.

(If you’d like to make your own list, I’d love for you to share it in a comment below.)

1. Awaking Christmas morning to emails and WhatsApp messages (with 55 pictures) from my kids and their various celebrations.
2. That I have been able to rent out my apartment in San Diego and my personal space in Uganda as a way to raise funds for my kids.
3. That number 2 above means that I get the chance to housesit in various locales, meaning my daily workouts take to me extraordinary places like the one depicted in the above picture, snapped just today.
4. Doing laundry.  I can’t explain it.  I just love to do it.
5. That as I talk to my kids on speaker phone, when I ask, “How are you?” they always respond, “We are FINE!” in measured syllables and with great emphasis.
6. Measuring and emphasizing wellness.
7. The letter ‘z.’  It’s fun to use, and it has a cute name.
8. Fireplaces.  The home I’m staying in now has one, and it makes me happy.  I miss my FP in Uganda.
9. The privilege of grad school.
10. Laughter that induces tears and the obvious but nevertheless oft-said tag line: “Oh that’s funny!”
11. The small, elderly Asian barber who shaved my head on Christmas Eve.  He kept insisting that I was a football player, and he used a vacuum to clean my scalp when he had finished.  I kept thinking, “I’ve never had my head vacuumed before.  So this is happening.”
12. Citrus.  Especially those of the small orange variety.
13. Wishing my dad a Happy Birthday today.  I like that we celebrate life thus.
14. Invitations.  Received.  Extended.  Accepted.
15. Joy as it beams from the countenance of a little person who calls me Dad.
16. Boxes.  One wonders what’s inside, or what one could place inside.  The notions of containment and of mystery are compelling.
17. Perfectly ripened avocados.
18. That feeling you get–after you fear you have experienced a series of mild heart attacks–when your doctor presents you with test results that indicate a perfectly well and strong heart.
19. Allowing dreams to inform action and choice.
20. Checking to see if I had won the lottery, confirming that I had not, and immediately falling into a deep, blissful sleep in a soft, warm bed.
21. Refrigeration and heat.
22. Knowing what love is.
23. Being alive at such a time as this.
24. This note on a recent donation to AidChild, “Nathaniel, we are honoring your purpose…with love.”
25. Stickers.
26. Calm.  Peace.  And their many synonyms, sensations and symbols.