1/10: remembrance of cookies past

We tend to accumulate jars of jam and jelly, and we recently decided that we needed to do something to use our current stock. I remembered a jam cookie recipe that I loved when I was younger, and though I couldn't find the exact recipe online, I think I found something really, really close. Today we're snowed in, so it feels like the perfect time to bake. We're in the process of making the cookies right now!

1/9: perfect timing

I got home from my conference yesterday evening, and that's good luck. Today a winter storm has set in, and the trip from the airport to our house might not have been as smooth today as it was yesterday. It feels nice to look out the windows and watch the snow come down. What would have been a hassle yesterday seems like a treat today.

1/6-1/8: heading for the lone star state

I'll be offline for a few days, giving a paper at a conference in Texas and seeing a friend whom I haven't met up with in years--both of those are very good things.

While I'm gone, feel free, of course, to post good things from your days in the comments!

1/5: the beginning of an answer

Our cat Wilkie's been not-so-well recently, and the first two rounds of testing at the vet showed that something was up, but not what. Today we got the results of a third set of tests, and the vet thinks he knows what's going on. We'll learn more soon, but for now it's just a relief to know that it's identified.

1/4: full draft

I just finished a draft of my conference paper for later this week. This is a happy thing, and it puts me a little ahead of schedule. It means that I can spend tomorrow revising and practicing (and packing) without having to squeeze more actual writing in. And beyond the practical goodness of having a draft done, it was a good thing to enjoy a day of writing and thinking.

1/3: like winter cicadas

Yesterday I mentioned that I had seen more ducks flying than ever before. Well, today topped yesterday. There have been thousands of ducks in the sky. We've been watching them during mealtimes from our table, looking out over the fields. Then early this evening we walked down the hill to get our mail, and what excellent timing: hundreds and hundreds of ducks were passing overhead! They made a cheeping, peeping sound rather than a quacking one.

1/2: a variety

A selection of today's good things:

- More ducks flying today than I have seen before. Their wings flapping in flight made them seem like they were blinking, twinkling lights.

- Opening paragraphs of my conference paper. There's plenty more to go, but at least the ice is broken, the first words written.

- A good email exchange with a parent about my summer London program.

- A quick, quick conversation with a neighbor who was passing by in his car as Chris and I walked. I like that neighbor's manner, his clear friendliness.

- New images on my bulletin board for the new year! The one above my desk has a teal-ish theme and uses some of my favorite cards that I have collected over the years. The board across from my desk now has all yellow images, and I am loving it's luminousness.

- Sweet biscuits. Chris tried to make a no-yeast sticky bun recipe yesterday and it didn't quite work, but we baked the dough anyway and got soft biscuits of a sort. Nice for breakfast, nice for dessert, nice anytime.

- First firing-up of the fireplace this winter. Prompted by a temporary loss of electricity, but a nice thing nonetheless. Or maybe especially nice for this reason!

1/1: looking up

When we went for our walk this afternoon the sky was filled with clouds. We paused to look. After I took some pictures, Chris called to me to lie down on the ground next to him. Here's what the sky looked like from that perspective, with the clouds running like ribbons or rivers parallel to the direction we were lying on our backs.

And another photo, this one taken later 0n our walk.