the good in my day: december

daddy. sarah. mercy bocephus. iced tea. pottery barn's comfort roll-arm slipcovered sofa. saltgrass' chicken fried steak. jewel. that the world can sometimes be so beautifully small. the compliments a woman paid to my father through me. the memory of a man. that window of calm in the day, just as the sun's setting... when the world seems painless and plentiful: the dogs barking, the people laughing and loving, the daylight blushing before it pales. first-row parking places. cousins. online shopping. adam. marble slab. the whopping sale i had at work (i've not had one of those in years). the christmas card from amy. pappadeaux's. the christmas card from erin. shopping with dad. the christmas card from karen. lesley. kimberly. gary and kathleen. the shirts i found at the gap. the wraps i found at urban outfitters. fielding's. making the twins' christmas presents. i took the twins the library; afterward, they wrote in the library notebooks i'd made for them what they'd checked out; it was so beautiful to sit with them while they practiced writing. lindsay.