Things That Are Innately Adorable

• the dimpled knuckles of a toddler’s chubby hand
• children when they whisper
• the fold on top where the toes join a cat’s paw, adding to the roundedness
• eyelashes on the cheeks of anyone sleeping, adult or child
• whiskers on small creatures
• sticky gecko toes
• the way frog’s eyes gyrate down and around when they swallow
• little compartments for things, as in jewelry and tool boxes
• tiny paper bags for nails/screws the hardware store gives you
• when animals use their tongues to lick their noses
• ladybugs
• the stubby, scaly toes and round feet of land tortoises
• the curled, feathery spiral of a fiddlehead fern
• a flower bud that’s barely begun to unfurl