10 Loves for a Cold January Day

1. I love a tightly-written essay. Preferably by Roger Rosenblatt. 2. I love homemade strawberry marshmallows (strawshmellows).

3. I love my kids' smiles, unforced, unabashed.

4. I love the feeling of all the tension washing out of my system in a hot shower.

5. I love Zooey Deschanel's cadence and inflection in "New Girl."

6. I love Michelle Obama.

7. I love helping a student solve a puzzle with his/her writing, or with language in general.

8. I love finding an old letter from my husband.

9. I love the Montessori method.

10. I love looking at this picture from four Januarys ago....