Blessings 7-16-09

1. The glint of golden hairs on a tanned arm.

2. Every Thursday: 5 cents off per gallon of gas at Lukoil on West Shore Road. ($2.48 a gallon today.) There were lines, but everyone was polite and patient.

3. Several dozen giant spools of thread in rainbow hues next to a sewing machine at the dry-cleaners.

4. The Amanda and Oliver Pig books by Jean Van Leeuwen with charming illustrations by Ann Schweninger: favorites of Melinda and Kevin, and now Caroline.

5. Reading light summer page-turners. Bemused that the same crime-novel author who could write a clunker like this – "We turned off the highway and headed into the rural." – could also toss off a neat description like this one: "A dozen police cars were angled in front of [the] clinic, all pointing in various directions like darts thrown by a drunk."