Little Things Mean a Lot

Over the last week or so, we have spent a lot of time talking to our homesick, teenage daughter about maintaining a positive attitude. The reality of a long-distance move has sunk in and she is going through all the normal adjustments of settling into a new area. We have been telling her to look for the little bright spots in her life instead of always concentrating on what she misses from back home.

You know what that means, don’t you? I have to be positive too. I can’t say that February in the middle of a pandemic exactly lends itself to natural positivity but I must practice what I preach so I sat down and thought about what little things have made my life happier lately.

I bought a tea cozy. I make a pot of tea every morning and most afternoons and I like my tea very hot. Unfortunately, winter is not conducive to hot tea, and by the time I go back for my second cup the pot has cooled down to an unacceptable level. I spent an awful lot of time complaining about this situation (literally years) before it occurred to me that there was a solution to this. Enter one owl-shaped tea cozy and my tea is always hot and my life is just a tiny bit better.

On the theme of keeping things warm, I bought a hot water bottle. It has only just occurred to me that the hot water bottle and the tea cozy make me sound like I have reverted to the 1940s and, honestly, I am fine with that as long as we leave out the war. My hot water bottle has a sweater and the sweater has a fox on it and really, what more does any person need?

I am pretty sure most of you reading this blog already listen to the Backlisted podcast. If you don’t, go start listening immediately. You can start with their latest episode which is about Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers. I just finished listening to it and it made me very happy. Backlisted describes itself as “Bringing new life to old books.” If that tagline doesn’t pull you in then, frankly, you are a lost cause. I could listen to them talk about books for hours. Thankfully, they have 156 available episodes so listening to them for hours is perfectly doable. Their next episode is going to be about South Riding by Winifred Holtby. That is definitely something to look forward to.

The inter-library loan system is a thing of wonder. I have mentioned before how much I like the Clevnet library system and I continue to be thrilled with the books I am able to find. I have been reading my way through lots of Patricia Wentworth, Mignon Eberhart, and Charlotte Armstrong mysteries. Perfect for reading while curling up with my tea and hot water bottle.

We may be isolated in a new area with a pandemic continuing to rage around us but while I have books, tea, my hot water bottle, and people to listen to talking about books I will survive.

What little things improve your life?