some simple pleasures

**chatting with a friend on her front porch

**getting an unexpected check in the mail–an award for a book review written several months ago

**meeting all of my dissertation goals for today

**turning the compost in the backporch bin (I try to remember to do this daily–the wormies do their best work when they get plenty of fresh air)

**GameBoy and Catgirl sitting at the kitchen table dutifully doing their homework. Until they break out into a boisterous debate about the merits of the overland Silk Road vs. the seatrade from Mecca to China

**the smell of fresh basil from my garden