Ten Things to Love, October Edition

Lest you think I am the eternally cheerful optimist that Ben claims I am, you should know I came this close to drafting a Ten Things to Hate list today. From my sprained ankle to Martelly's plan to reinstate the army to my theory that the NatCom (the end result of privatizing the state telecommunications company) is sabotaging Digicel, our current cell phone provider, so that almost every call I try to make these days gets dropped... it would have taken me far less time to spew onto screen the myraid of things currently upsetting or aggravating me. It seemed like a better exercise in positivity to come up with Ten Things to Love. Right now I am loving:

1. Snuggly kitten on rainy days.
2. Snuggly husband on rainy nights. (I recently told a friend that I have come to measure weather by a cuddle index. October, finally, brings temps that do not send us to far and opposite ends of our bed.)
3. Marigolds, recently planted in garden.
4. Pumpkin milkshakes. (Oven roast a pumpkin. Add to hand-crank blender with vanilla ice cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, allspice and cardamom. Crank until arm is sore. Savor. Of course if you don't live in Haiti, you can use a regular blender and enjoy your milkshake without a sore arm.)
5. 572. The first emergency response system dedicated to sexual violence in Haiti has recently been launched.
6. Kurt and Wilda's wedding on Saturday.
7. My sister's hilarious chronicles of maintaining a backyard farm, though most of her time seems to be spent admiring adorable bunny rabbits: carolinabackyardfarm.blogspot.com.
8. Fresh local carrot juice, discovered recently in a restaurant near Champs Mars.
9. Today, Columbus Day, has the web busting with thoughtful posts and commentary acknowledging the pitfalls of HISstory. My personal favorites are the e-card that says, "Let's celebrate Columbus Day by walking into someone's house and telling them we live there now" and the #OccupyColumbusDay twitter hashtag.
10. Other Worlds most recent publication, "Birthing Justice: Women Creating Economic and Social Alternatives." Downloadable here.