What Made Me Happy in 2025 | Week 3
A hoarfrost walk, light-hearted laughter - and reading aloud to myself
I deeply enjoy giving attention to the good things I encounter throughout the day. They can come in all forms and be of all sorts, big or small. They can be inspiring or beautiful, laughing-out-loud funny or just silently stunning, kind, warm or moving, they can provide comfort or new insights.
They are seldom life-changing, but to focus on them day by day can become life-changing.
I’ve chosen JOY as my word for this year and I’d love to share with you what made me happy in the past week. Maybe you’d like to share what made you happy, too?!
Here’s what made me happy last week:
A hoarfrost walk on a foggy Monday morning
As I am self-employed, I can set my own working hours, and as I am a very early riser, I usually start work at 4 am. The world is silent, nothing and nobody interrupts my concentration. My creativity flows just like the words I write. That in itself is perfect for me.
But there’s another advantage. On Monday morning at 9:30 am, after my main working hours, I could decide to go for a walk.
It was a foggy morning and our garden alone looked beautiful in the hoarfrost.
I live on the outskirts of a small town. It's only a five-minute walk to the tree nurseries that form the transition between the small town and the meadows.
The still, white, frosty scenery was stunning as I walked briskly in the freezing cold (-6° Celsius). The trees at the end of the meadows were only vaguely visible in the fog.
The bushes, trees, hedges, everything was covered in hoarfrost. Over night, it seemed, every plant had grown white thorns that gently disappared at the slightest touch.
The cobwebs in a yew hedge along a path had become visible due to the frost. There were so many of them at all levels that the hedge gave the impression of a block of flats!
Robins and tits crossed the farm track in front me, hopping from branch to branch in the hedge banks. I didn’t come across any other living beings, not even someone walking a dog. It was just me and the birds on a still, foggy morning in all its hoarfrost beauty.
I took photos, but the battery of my mobile phone died pretty quickly because of the cold. Actually, I am grateful for that because it forced me to just walk, breathe, look around and enjoy without thinking about the best photo subject.
I was out for an hour and really enjoyed it. I was so grateful that I could take the time to walk in this beautiful landscape on a Monday morning - without having to think about icy roads and commutes, work and duties. What a delight!
Reading a book aloud to myself
Last week I picked up Meadowland by John Lewis-Stempel from the library.
Because I had been putting myself under a lot of pressure again recently (let’s call it a minor setback), I decided to start my days in bed with a cup of tea and a quiet nature book instead of rushing to my desk.
I couldn’t have found a better book for that! I was so charmed by Meadowland and its beautiful language that I read parts of the book aloud several mornings - just to myself. It was so soothing to read at a leisurely pace through the seasons, focussing on a small patch of land throughout the year and its flora and fauna.
Truly, a calm and gentle way to start the day!
Light-hearted laughter
My husband and I like to play trivia games from time to time. However, we’ve stopped playing against each other and have switched to competing against the game as a team by answering each question and having to offer more correct answers per card than not to win.
Recently, we’ve been playing Bezzerwizzer mini, originally a trivia board game, but this one is just cards in a box, like a travel edition. The name of the game is a play on words with "Besserwisser", a German term meaning ‘know-it-all’.
This game has astonishing 150 different categories, so the areas of knowledge are incredibly varied and the questions are sometimes pretty tricky. That’s entertaining in itself, but some really unusual and amusing categories made our evenings even more fun.
We’ve laughed so much while playing, often while trying to get closer to the right answer and discussing different possibilites, but sometimes just about what we didn't know.
Light-hearted laughter feels so good!
New books from the library
Several books arrived for me at the library on Friday, which is always a pleasure!
I’m looking forward to reading Robert Macfarlane’s The Wild Places (Update: read my review here), Sally Huband’s Sea Bean, Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures (Update: read my review here) - and a children’s non-fiction book that looked quite special: Viking Voyagers. Explore the wonderful World of the Vikings by Jack Tite.
Spoilt for choice, which book to start with? :)
Until next time and have a lovely week!
Claudia
What made you happy in the past week?
-6c wow!! Beautiful photos. I can just imagine how wonderful it felt being out in such a winter wonderland.
I loved reading your reflections, Claudia! The way you embrace simple moments like your hoarfrost walk and reading aloud to yourself really resonates with me. It’s so easy to get caught up in the rush of life and forget how grounding it can be to simply be present, to let nature and small, beautiful things remind us of joy. These moments are such a gift—thank you for sharing them with us