–

As a new periodic blog feature, “grace notes” will occasionally capture my jottings of incidental gratitude for sacramental moments in the shards of daily life. My hope is that this practice will make me (and you?) more aware of the constant flow of amazing good we are perpetually steeped in, which we are surrounded by all the time. It is here only asking to be noticed. So starting with the clouds shown here…

• colored evening clouds overhead as seen from my third floor “prayer chair”
• butternut squash salsa
• hot pink tissue paper
• that pre-halloween after dinner smell of fallen leaves and crisp air
• light refracting through a glass of water
• wisdom teeth coming in undisruptively
• butcher’s daughters (I seem to know a lot of them)
• baskets made of pine needles
• tassels of beadlike zebra grass in the sun
• whistling during chores
• a receptive heart
• clean diapers
• lost and found boxes that hold what you are looking for
• true peers
• a looking glass that is perfectly clean
• a quenched thirst
• an October sky so brilliant
• a friend strumming a guitar
• lurching, lunging, laughing hopes
• absentee ballots sent in
• coriander on grilled tuna
• autumn reflections with ripples
• walking to the grocery store
• airplanes with leg room
• Victorian houses well maintained
• a divine influence everpresent in human consciousness
• raindrops rolling down windows catching others as they go
• singing in minor keys
• avocado toast with a perfectly poached egg
• angels sent and received
• baby showers on wet Sunday afternoons
• Anaheim peppers on the grill
• a local independent bookstore within walking distance
• a sparrow nibbling on weed seeds
• silent, effective brakes in cars
• watertight roofs on houses
• shimmering silver
• first kisses
• roots reaching for water
• frozen eggplant puree possibilities
• copper kettles
• plaid flannel tunics
• charger cords
• moss between the cracks in the driveway
• Hansa yellow mixed with turquoise
• the whistle of a train headed home
• young siblings cuddling
• moist morning mist in my face
• a brick building with large transomed windows
• contemplative organ music
• warm apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream in autumn
• the soft luster of gold leaf
• right motives actualized
• a beetle’s iridescent armor
• a veil lifted
• dishwashing suds cutting grease
• gooey paint
• knitting with three colors of variegated yarn simultaneously
• a constellation of hydrangea blossoms
• homemade frozen leftovers already thawed for dinner
• sufficiency in anything
• sleeping with the window open
• waking up without an alarm clock

To be continued… meanwhile feel free to add some of your own in the comments below.

–