Habitual Gratitude

Today I am grateful for time with our son Sam and his safe travels home. I am also grateful for the unseasonably wonderful weather we have had all week.  The reality is that it will soon start feeling more like November usually feels in this part of the world. Reality surrounds us all day, every day. Our perspective on it is what makes all the difference. The wider reality in large and small doses lately includes: *Well over 140 million Americans voted in our recent election. Democracy is alive.  *There still is not a declared winner in said election. It's a new reality for us. We are used to quicker results. Patience and trust in the process will carry us through. *Over 125, 000 new COVID cases were reported in the U.S. yesterday. A sad new record that will likely be broken again and again.  *Lack of hospital beds for the critically ill, and the surge in cases, will also lead to devastating deaths. *The sun is coming up for a new day.  Grim reality meets amazing rea...

Today I am grateful for the amazing weather we are being treated to this week in our neck of the woods. After a couple of early snowfalls and some unseasonable cold, we have been granted this respite even as the days get shorter and winter gets closer. The snow is gone, the shorts came back out for my run yesterday. Sunny and in the 70's. That doesn't sound like November in the upper Midwest, but we are sure relishing in it. It's a respite in more ways than one. Tough weeks and months lie ahead as the COVID-19 pandemic surges right along with our human fatigue, fear, and even anger about it. Bright and warm days and being outside shore us up for the times when darkness will settle in early and cold temperatures will keep us indoors more.  A welcome respite, courtesy of Mother Nature. An intermission granted at just the right time. This week and the uncertainty of election results, the patience needed as we wait to learn more, is made more bearable because of the beauty of t...

Today I am grateful for milder weather and that I have the right to vote as a citizen of my nation. I have many rights as an individual living in a democracy. When I taught high school social studies classes like Government and Civics earlier in my career, we would talk about “with rights come responsibilities” and the idea “that my freedom to move my arm ends where your nose begins.” Freedom is not absolute, nor is it defined by me in a vacuum.  I try to be a responsible and reasonable citizen and I understand the process of government to be "of the people, by the people, and for the people." When people are as divided as our nation is at this time, I have some fear and trepidation, but I also trust the process. And I will do my part. Nothing dooms us more than apathy.  My husband Darcy and I voted by absentee ballot this year for a variety of reasons. I have always voted in person and felt good about walking into a polling place and casting my vote. The main factor leading ...

Living gratefully today, I notice the better lighting of new bulbs replacing old ones. If only it were that simple to turn the tide of a pandemic and an overall unsettling time.  I went for a run yesterday morning, "doing a Roger" and welcoming daylight. It was cloudy and breezy, and then at one point the sun came out and I noticed an eagle soaring overhead. An eagle, the proud symbol of our nation. And also a reminder of my sister Mary Jo.  The day after she died, I was driving, grieving, feeling--and I noticed an eagle soaring in the blue sky ahead of me. It felt like Mary Jo was telling me "I'm free. Pain-free and soaring." The image, and the emotions accompanying it, bring comfort and acceptance.  The bald eagle is described as having fierce beauty and proud independence. My country is floundering in ways, on the eve of Election Day and in the middle of a surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Will we and our national symbol make it through t...

Today I am grateful for warm layers, running water, and batteries to power flashlights. Based on my gratitude list, you may have surmised that the dark chill I am referencing in today’s post title is regarding a power outage. It is, but it is more. With strong winds yesterday and overnight, it’s likely a branch went down and took our neighborhood’s power with it. I heard a chain saw when Oliver and I took our walk just now on eerily dark streets with randomly dark houses. Across our street, neighbors have lights and electricity. Down our block, there is darkness. I can see the power grid, literally.  Thank you to the crews already working hard to restore our electricity and the convenience and comforts we often take for granted.  Daylight will soon come, earlier today than yesterday, on the clock anyway, because Daylight Savings Time just ended overnight too. That will help take away the darkness. And we have plenty of layers and blankets to take away the chill. A few hours of...

Today I am grateful for the music of Seals and Crofts, particularly "We May Never Pass This Way Again" as I listen to it this morning.   Muster. I have written hundreds of posts here, but I am pretty sure I have never written about this word.  The English language, any language, is an amazing thing to behold. So many words, so many meanings. Muster has multiple definitions. Bringing troops or other people together in preparation. Gather together. Collect or assemble. Or the little known reference to a group of peacocks.  (from FreeImages.com) But the definition I am going for today is this one: to summon up a particular feeling, attitude, or response. It's a Friday of another busy week. Can I muster energy to approach the day ahead?  It's a trying time for our world in the midst of COVID-19 surges. It's an unsettled time in my country as we near a crucial election day. Can I muster hope to keep me moving forward? Can I be a contributor and not a contaminator?...

Today I am grateful for the many pictures displayed in our home that help capture the rich blessings in our lives.  In my efforts to take more pauses in my day, I sometimes walk into a room and intentionally stop, look around, and consider the things in that room that bring gratefulness to my heart. I often type my blog posts sitting in our family room at our computer desk. In front of me is a framed picture of a butterfly that my aunt sent me and that was displayed at my sister Mary Jo's memorial.  Butterflies symbolize transition, change, rebirth, new beginnings.  If I look to my left, there are a couple pictures of our dog Oliver from his younger days. To my right, I see family pictures that span the time of our son Sam as a little boy to our grandsons as toddlers. Behind me are pictures ranging from my parent's wedding photo from 1950, Darcy and I from 1998, and our grandsons as newborns.  In another spot, our most recent marathon medals hang near pictures of Dar...