Good Things on a Monday

I making up my own list of five good things for this Monday:

1) just walked in from standing out in the snow for fun...the biggest, lightest flakes in since I can't remember when.

2) reorganizing the kitchen so there's more light coming in the window, and sitting here and typing and looking out and watching the above-mentioned flakes continue to fall.

3) the new Ben Sollee album, "Learning to Bend," just got the gorgeous limited edition CD in the mail. You've got to check it out: wwww.bensollee.com Gorgeous voice, innovative & beautiful cello, plus appearances by Abigail Washburn and Bela Fleck. One of my favorite lines (from the song "Bend") (I'm sure there'll be another favorite tomorrow):

I saw God in the forest
Teaching tai chi
To the trees in the wind
And bowing to the sea.

4) daffodils

5) being, once-and-for-all, done with school.

Well, except for basket making classes (there's one tonight!) and such.

Okay...and a bonus:

6) teaching myself my first song on the banjo: "Get Along Down to Town." I heard it on an album of Ray Slone's old time banjo tunes (I've mentioned Ray on here earlier: he died of liver cancer last fall and was one of Knott county's kindest souls and preeminent musicians, and I regret not getting to spend time with him). My favorite verse from the song:

Rich girl uses cold cream
Poor girl uses lard
My girl uses axle grease
And rubs it twice as hard.