I'm Back!!

Yes, I'm back again, after only a few days.  My favorite 'roosting' place these summer afternoons is the screen porch that looks into the oh so green forest.  

In between the trees the bluest of skies shows through. 

Its such a perfect place to put everything into perspective. 

 How small I am in this universe, how grand and wonderful and beautiful my little piece of the world is.

This is truly a time for sharing and being thankful and doing my part by enjoying and sharing the beauty that surrounds me.

"A smile is a light in the window that tells others that this is a caring, sharing person inside." - Leonard Nimoy

Thanks Giving -- Giving Thanks

Thinking about "Thanks Giving" and all that those words imply made me think about my "Gratitude" jar.  Filled to the brim with little bits of thankfulness.Wouldn't it be more appropriate to take it from Thanksgiving Day to Thanksgiving Day?  

This shortly passed Thanksgiving I went through the jar I've been filling and read all of the little scraps of paper. 

 Once finished I set up this jar (which is a tiny bit bigger) for filling from this Thanksgiving to next year's Thanksgiving.  

We have all sorts of celebrations and holidays in this country but I do believe that Thanksgiving should be the most meaningful holiday of all.  

My 'thankful' thoughts go to each you for taking the time to read  my words and enter my world even though we have never met in person.

"Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy and change ordinary opportunities into blessings."

William Arthur Ward

GRATITUDE

Sitting on a shelf above my computer is this jar.  It began life as a pickle jar and now it holds slips of paper.

Each day I write something that I am grateful for and slip it into the jar. Mostly my gratitude for the day is something small, something that I normally don't think about but just accept as if it was mine. 

Pausing to be grateful is a gift in itself and I shall happily tamp down these small gratitudes as each day passes.

"Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings." - William Arthur Ward

Today I'm thankful for...

...words and books.

This old dictionary -- published in 1947 -- was a wonderful discovery made on one of my 'treasure' hunts.  Its heavy, full of so many words, their definitions and even some sketched pictures.  I can imagine the artist laboring over these very small illustrations and I am  grateful that I found this bit of history.

I admit that I'm old-fashioned -- I do all my reading in 'real' books. I love to turn the pages and to put book marks inside so that I can find my way when I come back.  The turning of a page still thrills me and I am so grateful to have the joy of the printed word in my life.

As you can see a tome this heavy sometimes does double duty as a leaf press.

"Every time I have to look up a word in the dictionary, I'm delighted." - Vivienne Westwood

Its almost impossible

As Thanksgiving arrives I start to think...

...its almost impossible to be thankful enough.  Impossible because there will never be enough time in the day, or the week, or the month, or the years to list all that I have to be thankful for.  I don't believe that I can count high enough to enumerate them all.

My heart often fills with all the deliciousness of my life - but even it isn't big enough to capture all of my blessings.

This of course means that every single day has to be 'thanksgiving day' because to stop counting my blessings would be a disservice to all those who have given them to me along the way.  Thank you! 

"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received.  Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling.  Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse." - Henry Van Dyke

Back home...

...in my nest.  No matter how wonderful, fun, exciting travel is -- I always take a deep breath when I'm back in my own little nest.  Where everything is familiar, where my studio always awaits me, where my little daily routines are back in effect.  Its truly nice to be home.

"Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, all you have is all you need." - Sarah Ban Breathnach

Earth's Gifts

As I make my way through life, each day coming one after the other, I gather within all the parts of the earth that support and sustain me. 

I can learn from a tree which has stood here for many, many years.  Learn of patience and fortitude, strength and determination.

I can learn from the rocks -- those that tower above me, giving me a true perspective of where I fit into this wonderful universe.  And those that I hold in my hand - warm from the sun.

I can learn from the water which often makes its boisterous way - quickly and loudly.  At other times it is a trickle - barely dampening the earth beneath it.

I can learn from the sky - so very high above me.  Covering my existence with a beautiful shade of blue.  Showing me the vastness of the universe and my small place within it.

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

"Sometimes I need

only to stand

wherever I am

to be blessed". -

Mary Oliver

"The Grateful Heart"

"The Grateful Heart" reflects the thoughts that I've been having - thoughts of thankfulness, of acceptance and the full-heart feeling of knowing how fortunate I am.  There are days when it can be difficult to feel grateful - life has a way of throwing things at us that are sometimes very difficult to accept.  But being grateful is often the only way to get through those times -- after all, how can I be upset when I truly think about what I have, the love and laughter that fills my life.  A quick list while I'm walking in the morning puts so many things into perspective.
 

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."
-Melody Beattie

Arizona Dreaming - Sedona

How do I begin to describe this area?  I am awestruck by the grandeur of the huge, red stone fortresses which surround this valley.  Rocks the size of mountains loom up against a clear blue sky.  Rocks which are orange and rust and red with spots of green where tenacious high desert plants cling to the red soil.

These mammoth 'structures' have been carved by wind and water and weather.  Some of them look like huge sentinels guarding the valley below.  If I look closely I see features, shapes, castles, doorways - only my imagination limits what I see.

As I look out and up at these rock formations I am filled with gratitude that I can stand in the presence of such rough hewn beauty and natural grandness.

"The finest quality of this stone, these plants and animals, this desert landscape is the indifference to our presence, our absence, our coming, our staying or our going. Whether we live or die is a matter of absolutely no concern to the desert". –Desert Solitaire - Edwart Abbey