Hello from the beach. I will have actual beach delights for you in next week’s post, but for now let’s look back at what was giving me joy last week.

• Amos Lee rescues a bird. Amos Lee is currently on tour (well he just got COVID, so not currently but you know…). I don’t remember what city he was in early last week, but he found an injured bird by the steps of the venue and sought out advice on social media for anyone who could help rescue it. I don’t know if anyone helped him or not with where to take it or they found it on their own, but he shared a video of some people in his crew helping to get it into a box and then they drove it to a wildlife rescue where he dropped it off. Then a few days later he shared the post from the wildlife rescue releasing it back out into the wild all better.
• The Great Pottery Throw Down. I’ve written about the Great Pottery Throw Down before, but it’s back for a new season. The normal host, Siobhan McSweeney, broke her leg and wasn’t there for most of the season, but the Ellie Taylor, who you may recognize as Sassy from Ted Lasso stepped in to replace her temporarily. I liked her better and wish she would stick around, but oh well. It’s just such a lovely show. Even more good natured than Great British Bake Off because there is no Paul Hollywood smarm. There was one episode where the person I was rooting for the most just really knocked it out of the park and it was just so delightful to watch. I was so happy for her. I still have one episode left to watch, and I’m kind of saving it for a day when I really need a pick me up.
• Uncle Davids. Kimberly Adams who is reporter for Marketplace and now one of the co-hosts of the Make Me Smart podcast shared a couple years ago during the height of the pandemic how her Uncle Davids had gone viral on Instagram with the creation of sculptures in their backyard during the pandemic back when she was guest hosting on the podcast. I’ve been following them since then, but whenever they post it brings me a bit of joy. They are two gay men in their 70s both named David who’ve been together since 1989 and were married in 2015. They are so positive and have so much love to share with the world. They are the kind of people we need more of. They call all their followers niblings and always send their love or wishes to them and say AND THAT EXCLUDES NO ONE. Sometimes they just livestream sitting around their fire pit. It’s all just such a nice cleansing moment from the horribleness of the rest of the internet. @david.k.north on instagram if you want to follow too.
• Graduation countdown. I was in an online board meeting for work the other night. Most people were attending the meeting in person, but I still chose to Zoom in as did the student rep on the board because she had COVID. I could see a marker board behind where she was sitting where she was keeping a countdown of days until graduation, and made me really happy for her. What an exciting time for everyone who is getting ready to graduate.
• Cheetos and Cap’n Crunch. I love Cheetos and Cap’n Cruch, but I only allow myself to eat them on vacation because they are terrible for you. So my husband ordered me some in our grocery pick up for our vacation this week. Since the Cap’n Crunch was buy 2 get 1 free on the largest size he did that, so I got three huge boxes of Cap’n Crunch. However, he didn’t pay attention to the size on the Cheetos and got a tiny back that only had a couple of servings in it. I was amused by the juxtaposition of how much Cap’n Crunch there was compared to how few Cheetos. But not anymore because then out of nowhere my friend who is cat sitting for me this week texted me on Friday and said you like Cheetos right? I said yes, and when she came to get the lowdown on all the cat’s medications on Friday night she showed up at my house with 4 party sized bags of Cheetos. I’m definitely going to run out Cheetos or Cap’n Crunch any time soon.
• Beach vacation. In a dizzying 48 hours we backed out of our beach vacation to stay home with our sick cat, but then after I talked to the vet more we decided it was probably okay to go away for a week. So far, so good. Hopefully that continues to remain true until we get home. I’m still worried, and feel guilty for leaving her. I’m trying to enjoy the vacation as much as possible though, and I know she is in good hands.
• And now it’s time for my musical joy. I love the song “Roll with Punches” by Dawes. I heard it on my way to work on Friday morning and it felt very fitting for the last few years when it seems like the punches just keep coming and I keep having to find a way to keep dealing with them. It felt like the perfect song in the moment I heard it.