Cozy Things I Love About Slow Living

1. Making breakfast to the gentle touch of piano music, and dinner to the crackling lull of a jazz record.

2. Counting my blessings in the mornings as I swing on my back porch and gaze at the trees with a steaming coffee cup in hand.

3. Smelling my baby’s soft hair and kissing her plump cheeks as I walk slowly from room to room.

4. The pleasing, fermented smell and warm supple feel of sourdough in my hands as I give the flour and water its first mix in the quiet of the morning. Then the warm crackle of the crust when I finally pull it out of the oven.

5. Writing poetry and painting watercolors at my kitchen table by the window.

6. Harvesting, drying, and grinding herbs from the tiny garden on my back porch, and the sweet peppery smell of the basil when I water it.

7. Putting on lotion infused fuzzy socks that feel cool and silky on my feet.

8. Making tea in my grandmother’s special China cup just because I can.

9. The simple ease of pulling a matching sweat suit onto my clean body after a mid-day shower.

10. Slow afternoon baking in the low light of the tiny lamp glowing in the corner of my kitchen.

11. The warmth of my homemade lavender and corn heating pad pressed between my back and the couch.

12. Stepping onto my back porch at any hour during any season and witnessing every crisp spring sky, vivid autumn dusk, and mischievous summer night.

13. Standing over the stove with a wooden spoon and watching a babbling fall soup come together in my dark green Dutch oven.

14. Warming a special pitcher of huckleberry syrup for pancakes on a Saturday and watching the butter melt across the golden surface.

15. Turning my phone off and reading Bella Grace by candlelight with a heavy blanket on a Sunday afternoon.