what went right

Today's prompt comes from Summer Pierre, author of the book The Artist in the Office.

Summer writes:

What went right in 2013?

Maybe you didn't quit smoking or lose those pounds or go to Paris, but something did work, did happen, and/or was realized. What was it?

For me, what “went right” is not a milestone moment, or a situation-altering life event. For better or worse, there have been few of those in 2013.

But if 2013 has been uneventful in the Hollywood sense, it has been rich in the "Indie sense,"with tiny moments that, added together, have made this past year one that has gone “right." Here are a few snapshots:

Dinner and the movie version of “Les Miserables” with Mom, our post-Christmas outing. Anne Hathaway's intensely beautiful Fantine. Private catharsis.

Icicles on my eyelashes on a wintry morning in March, as I awoke in a tent in the White Mountains next to two women who were equally excited to see snow outside the tent door. Later, we trudged up the bottom section of Mt. Washington, downhill skis and boots strapped to our backpacks, for the incomparable thrill of skiing down the Sherburne Trail in fresh powder. Two hours up, twenty minutes down. Almost as thrilling was our butt-slide down Mt. Garfield the following day.

Thursday nights at Mt. Southington with Dylan and Alexa. Watching Alexa watch the sunset, the aqua blue of her ski jacket contrasting, but also blending, with the pink and orange dusk, the white trail. My proud anxious heart as I stared at my kids' backs and then watched them disappear down their first black diamond trail.

Adopting Zina the wonder dog.

Winning the Traprock 17k!

Reaching the summit of Timp Pass at the Bear Mountain 50k, tasting tears and sweat and dirt (and potatoes). Crossing the finish line, knowing I had almost given up halfway through. Post-race beer.

Friday morning trail runs, followed by Friday morning coffee.

Being part of Dylan’s first “big summit,” a long, rewarding hike to the summit of Mt. Washington and back down again. Well-earned pizza at the Flatbread Company in North Conway. Beer.

An impromptu outburst of “Do You Hear the People Sing?” on Easter, led by our kids and their so-cool friends.

Pearl Jam double date. Three hours of Eddie Vedder.

Reading the results of the school committee election in Waltham with immense pride for my sister, who rocked it.

Reading We would like to publish your short story….

The sky outside my west-facing living room window at 4:00 in late fall, warm tea in a mug designed by Lexi, dogs at my feet, fire in the woodstove, winter whispering from the draft underneath the sill.

The realization that I could spend several hours responding to the question in the prompt.

That’s what.