Joys

The feeling of having only recently seen, spoken to, or written to people I love from whom I've been keeping myself apart

Feeling heavy-hearted in a moment, knocking myself, and then realizing that I need to do something that's healthy for me, and then doing it

Waking early(ish) on a Saturday morning, looking out and seeing sun, and feeling excited to go hop on my bike and do some serious exercise at the gym

The cherubic faces of little ones in cars passing me as I bike, peering at me curiously, and how much it makes me smile

Noticing interesting patterns and colors of decorative wooden shingles on the side of a random house I pass, that I never noticed before

The two young girls at the front counter of the gym (the ARC), practicing bumping a volleyball back and forth to each other in the little enclosed space behind the counter

How many quite old people are at the gym, walking laps and on various workout machines

The feeling of shooting several swishes in a row on the basketball court, falling off my rhythm, and then finding it again

The indescribable feeling of throwing up a high, arcing outside shot and having the instinctive feeling that it is definitely going in, well before it does

The feeling of, after about 20 tries, finally hitting that shot from 3-point distance from the left corner (for some reason, that one position really resists my efforts)

Shooting baskets for the exact amount of time needed to get back to my locker and open my backpack just in time to get a call from Ann Marie, and to feel marvelously loved and confident by the contents of the call. Literally a few seconds earlier or later, and I would have missed the call.

Going to the weights area after that call, and feeling stronger and more determined as a result of it, going through chest press, lat pulls, dips, pull-ups, shoulder press, butterfly, tricep curls, bicep curls, two types of forearm curls, squats, leg presses, hamstring curls, back bends, shoulder raises, and a couple more I don't really have concise names for and don't want to spell out, because this is wordy enough already

Feeling in love.