I love.

Last week, I read another beautiful poem by Andrea Gibson. In it, she lists all the things she loves.

The poem is long and well worth the read. You can subscribe for free to read it here.

It begins with this banger paragraph:

“I love. That could be the end of the sentence, but I love sentences. I love words huddled together like strangers trying to survive a frigid night. I love rock sculptures built in windstorms. I love sandcastles crafted inches from the waves.”

Her list included charming examples of things I never knew — like how cows have best friends — and others so familiar to me I could have described them myself, though not so eloquently as she does.

Her poem ends, as all good ones do, in a way that got me thinking.

“And I love all of you, friends, for caring about what I love. What are you loving today?”

So, Andrea, here’s my answer today:

I love sleeping on freshly laundered sheets. I love how a perfectly steeped mug of tea warms me up on a cold morning without burning my tongue. I love how fresh air blowing through a rattly old window pane smells like hope.

I love that sea salt makes chocolate taste so much better.

I love two-sweat-towel workouts.

I love that my two-year old granddaughter spent a whole rainy Saturday afternoon playing hide and seek in her dad’s giant soup pot. I love that my son has a giant soup pot, and a clever wife, and a happy little girl.

I love the nickname my granddaughter gave me because LaLa sounds like singing and La is a musical note I can hit, and it’s also the first two letters of laugh, which is our favorite thing to do.

I love that a 15-year old boy looked out my car window as I ferried him home from the skatepark and said, “Hey! Look at that sunset!”

I love that my younger son met his wife at an A Capella competition nine years ago and they’re still singing.

I love that my daughter stopped in the middle of her road trip to check out a stone grotto she spotted from her car.

I love how matter-of-factly my husband volunteered to drive eight hours to pick up a car full of little boys and, six days later, drive them back again.

I love jumping pictures and people who indulge me when I want to take them.

I love the sweet stretch of daylight as winter falls away.

I love the economy of letters our seven-year old friend achieved when he said he loved “Dogs, God and donuts.”

I love wedding dresses and daughters who model them in advance of their marriage to a man who loves adventure, the Wisconsin woods and her.

I love writing this blog and that you are kind enough to read it.

What are you loving today?