Today I noticed the cracks in the eggplant that I’d photographed, that remind me of smile lines on the face of someone who has smiled a hundred thousand times. I saw the light that streams through the window in my office. My office is in what’s meant to be the dining area of our apartment. But space is limited, so one thing becomes another. And the kitchen is slowly taking over everything.

This is where I work. This is where we live. And I love it. I love our space, the crowded rooms, the treasures and photos. Life that has become art.

I don’t know if it’s the music I’ve been listening to today, the books I’ve been reading, or just one of those times where I’m caught up in a wave of… I don’t know what to call it… Art. Simplicity. Beauty. Life.

It makes me want to sit out on the patio in the warm afternoon sun, or the cool evening shade. With my eyes closed, just listening to the leaves on the trees as they rustle in the wind. Never drowning out the sound of the freeway that’s so close, but conspiring with it to sound even more like the ocean and less like cars racing by, people on their way to everywhere.

It makes me want to see steam rising from a loaf of bread, a bowl of cherries sitting on the counter, fresh pasta laying out to dry.

And as I’m typing these things here I can’t help by whisper, “this is my life”. Not in a braggy, yay for me, look at me sense. Simply in a humbled, wowed, appreciating the little moments kinda way.

I spent a good portion of my day with hands submerged in sudsy water. Washing glasses, plates, bowls, spoons – treasures that we found at an estate sale over the weekend. Cupboards and shelves had to be re-arranged to make room for my new toys. This delights me.

I spent the last 30 minutes pulling dried herbs off their stems and pouring them into labeled jars. Chocolate mint, thyme, savory – the smell lingers on my hands and it is divine.

I spent a while at lunch reading a book about cooking. I have two going at the same time. I stop one for a while and pick up the other. One, The School of Essential Ingredients, is a second hand book that Tim found for me. It’s a novel about cooking. And so far, the way the author describes things resonates so perfectly in my brain. It makes me want to shout, “exactly”! She puts things into words that I would have never known needed desperately to be described.

And then there’s the book that I am reading along with pen and paper close at hand, so I can jot down ideas. “An Everlasting Meal” by Tamar Adler. It makes me long for simpler times. But, at the same time realize that I have everything at my fingertips to create what I’ve begun to crave… Good olive oil, homemade bread, vegetables, cheese, salt… This will probably make up tonight’s dinner.

I’m on the first chapter, entitled, “How to Boil Water”. I thought I knew, yet I’m learning so much. I’m feeling a renewed desire to cook, to spend hours in the kitchen – creating, learning, boiling, stirring… tasting.

One of my favorite lines so far, “…fresh vegetables can be just as beautiful when they’re pale and faded. Nature isn’t persistently bright; it wears and ages.” The simplicity in these words takes my breath away.

Hope your days are filled with your own versions of these simple joys.