Predictably, there has not been a lot of joy in my life lately. The changing season and early darkness every day are not helping. I have mostly been rolling out of bed, going to work, and wiling away a few hours in the evening before going to bed at an ungodly early hour to start it all over again. Work has been truly hellacious these last two weeks, both in the amount of time and energy it has required when my stores are dangerously low, and the relentless onslaught of crisis after crisis after crisis.

However, on Thursday evening, I had to attend a dance party that one of my student organizations organized. It was a little over two hours of pure joy for me to watch students, who I usually only encounter when something is wrong (and in some cases, VERY wrong) or bad in their lives, just have fun with their friends. There were no crises--just good times and music and happiness. It reminded me why I do this work so that these students can have those experiences.

I also had a happy small town moment today. As I was driving home from running an errand, a black lab was crossing the busiest street in my town, narrowly missing getting hit several times. I am not really an animal person, most of the time. But I didn't really feel comfortable just driving past and not stopping like I'd seen a lot of other people do. The lab crossed and I was able to turn right and call him to me on the safe side of the street. He had no tags, only a shock collar. Two different people--one elderly woman and one 20-something man--stopped to check in with me as I stood with this dog on a busy street corner, trying to determine what the heck to do with him. I don't think I've lived many, if any, places where random strangers stop to talk to the girl who pulled over to get the dog off the street.

The dog was unbelievably friendly and wanted lots of scritches. A quick drive through the neighborhoods in the area didn't yield any owners, so I had to take him to the Humane Society. They were both grateful and annoyed to receive him; apparently, he's been a regular visitor lately as his owners haven't been good about keeping him safe. I was glad to know that he was identifiable and would be reunited with his owners.