Delights

[spritechan]

A few weeks ago, I purchased The Book of Delights by Ross Gay at the suggestion of brittdreams. It's a beautifully written book of daily essays — I LOVE daily musings and lyrical writing — and I have been reading an essay or two out loud whenever the mood strikes. They only take a few minutes, and usually spark additional conversation.

The author refers to things he experiences as "delights," such as a specific flower he passes on his daily walk, the color of a door frame, the way the light hits the water, the small knowing looks exchanged between strangers. Steve and I have started naming delights in our lives as well. It's a good way to focus on the small joys.

• Grim's brown fur in the sunlight — delight! (He's ostensibly a black cat)


• The smell of grass and flowers on a walk — delight


• A shared joke — delight


• The softness of our sheets — delight


• Our coffee mugs — delight


• A small child enthusiastically waving or saying hi — delight


• Snuggling into cat fur, their mews for attention, the way they love us — delight


• Hugs — delight


• Sitting outside in the sun — delight


• Precious little plant leaves — delight


• Stitch markers — delight


• The lines of a tattoo — delight


• Knitted swatches — delights (although that's kind of cheating... in Lisey's Story, they reference "small knitted squares gifted along with a finished afghan" that are referred to as Delights, and they are obviously swatches, so of course I call them delights as well)

• Every single stitch in my current shawl (Grotine number 2) — delight 

A rainbow of colors knit in linen stitch