{"id":3663,"date":"2016-11-13T00:55:05","date_gmt":"2016-11-13T00:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/?p=3663"},"modified":"2016-11-14T06:40:56","modified_gmt":"2016-11-14T06:40:56","slug":"small-good-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/2016\/11\/13\/small-good-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Small, Good Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was a junior in high school I read \u201cA Small, Good Thing\u201d by Raymond Carver<\/a>. I won\u2019t spoil the ending, as it is a story that I definitely recommend you read; however, I will tell you this: no matter what the tragedy, there are always small, good things. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some of my favorites — <\/span><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Tossing stones into the Sound.<\/b>
    \n<\/span>During the first week of school I went on an impromptu Target run that turned into an impromptu stop at Black Bear and subsequent trip down to the water. It was the first time I\u2019d been there since the fourth of July, when it was populated by half of Tacoma, dressed in red, white, and blue. It was calmer this time, more peaceful. My housemate and I sat on the rocks, pushed up by the water. He judged me for my pistachio frozen yogurt and we both threw rocks into the water and then sat and stared at the sky until the stars came out. <\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>I\u2019ve been back to the water a few times since then: once, late at night, after I finished my homework, but still had residual stress; during the Chinese Moon Festival, where I sat by the water with my friend, Andy, and ate noodles; on my birthday, wherein I happened to run into my friend, Gabe, who had walked down to the water on his own accord; and this past week, when Andy and I ate chicken noodle soup and pointed out seals in the water.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>The beautiful thing about the water is that even though it\u2019s always changing, it still stays the same.<\/span><\/span>    \"water\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Fresh flowers.<\/b>
    \n<\/b>Throughout my childhood, my mom would buy me flowers on my birthday. (She would occasionally admit that they were half for her, \u201cI did do all of the work, you know.\u201d) Since I\u2019ve been in college, receiving flowers on my birthday has been limited to her buying herself flowers and telling me that I should also buy flowers. (Despite liking flowers, I\u2019m awful at actually going about purchasing them.)<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>This year, on the Friday before my birthday, I received a package notification. Assuming it was some scarves that I asked my mom to send me, I picked up the package right before a group project meeting with a professor. No, instead, the package was a bouquet of roses. They were beautiful and I was amusingly stuck carrying them around for the next five hours.<\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/li>\n

  3. Cloudy days and sunshine. <\/b>
    \nAutumn skies have a tendency to cast a gray glow on everything, which is beautiful in its own right, but can occasionally appear vaguely dreary. In the Pacific Northwest, where rainy days outnumber blue skies, getting a rare bit of sunshine within a cloudy day is comforting. It\u2019s a small and necessary reminder that the sun is there, even when you can\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n

  4. Warm chocolate chip cookies.<\/b>
    \n<\/span>I made Banji eat a warm cookie from one of the first chocolate chip cookie batches I made this semester. He ate it and sounded a bit in awe, \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever had a homemade chocolate chip cookie before.\u201d<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>Each time the cookies are made, they\u2019re gone within 24 hours. They disappear as a joint effort between my friends and housemates. There is a comfort in baking, it\u2019s a way to be productive without thinking. Instead of worrying about something, I can focus on measuring and stirring and singing along to the music that is playing in the background. (My current favorite baking playlist is <\/span>    this one<\/a><\/b>.)<\/span>
    \n