happiness is...

first snowfall of the season.

shoveling.

the sounds—the shovel scraping and sliding, the snow crunching and plopping—just make me feel happy. it seems to have the same effect on the dogs, who start jumping around and then running and playing like crazy.

it feels good to be outdoors, to laugh at the dogs, to have the cold seeping into my fingers through my gloves, to use my muscles and smell the air and see the beautiful white snow everywhere, trimming each branch.

finally a hard freeze—the end, or the beginning of the end, of the drab muddy half-alive late autumn.

must mulch the iris.