This is a periodic blog feature I call “grace notes.” It occasionally captures my jottings of incidental gratitude. 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 and amplified.

So now I am furthering my ongoing goal of appreciating such a continuous, overflowing abundance of random good. I’ve taken photographs of some of them with my iPhone, which you can see in this post.

So let’s start this gratitude list with:

• that recently Christian Science healed my broken arm within two days. What a reminder to not take anything for granted, including divine Love’s effective care. I’m grateful I’ve learned about a God that is provable and not just theory or mere faith.
• I’m grateful my Painted Paper Collage class went so well, and was so well received at Creative Arts Camp. I’m grateful for the wonderful people at camp, and all the great conversations I had there. I’m grateful for the lovely, unparalleled location at Newfound-Owatona; it is so beautiful and feels like home away from home. I’ve come to see going to Creative Arts Camp as  like a family reunion you wouldn’t want to miss.
• I’m grateful my October Non-traditional Surfaces and Techniques in Pastel class has enough sign-up to be going forward. There are some more spots available if you are interested (see here). I’m grateful for the dear people too in the Pastel Society of Maine, another terrific group of people that I look forward to spending time with.
• I’m grateful to be having the opportunity to travel a lot this fall. This month, I head to plein air paint on Monhegan Island with friends, and then my husband and I are going on a trip to London, the Lake District, Northumberland, and Yorkshire, before meeting up with a couple beloved, long time blog readers in Cambridge. I’m looking forward to seeing new places, get lots of walking in, and I’m grateful that because of this blog, you can come along with me, as I explore, and post photos each day.
• I’m grateful the world is getting smaller, so if you need my prayerful help while I’m out of town, I’m still reachable without being chained to my office. This is a good day and age to be a practitioner with the freedom of cellular communication! I’m grateful you won’t be shy about getting the love and support you need.
• I’m grateful to have finally replaced my faithful, nine year old computer, and am learning a new photo editing program. It is more complex than the 2005 program I’ve relied on for so long, but I’m grateful to be able to find my way with this new technology. I’m grateful I was able to get the blog out without lapse this past month, even though both old and new computers were unavailable as they crunched around the clock for 5 full days, transferring 300,000 photos from the old program to the new. I’m grateful for having good help in that transition; I had not a clue how to do that part, but was gently led through it by a cheerful expert.
• I’m grateful for my husband, for our daughters, my sisters, our friends, extended families, for a new babies in the family, both those that have arrived and those on the way. I’m grateful my husband’s 95 year old aunt has rallied and is doing better. I look forward to seeing her in October. I’m grateful our niece and her family had an amazing harvest and that we’ll get to see them in October as well. I’m grateful to see another niece in London this month as well. I’m grateful a young cousin on my husband’s side is in grad school at Yale, close enough to come by for dinner. I’m grateful I love my husband’s family like it was my own.
• I’m grateful that we had no negative repercussions from the local flooding we had here recently (that photo below is of a block from here, down the hill).  I’m grateful that the huge amount of rain we’ve had this summer has kept our landscape lush and green, although it has also meant I only got to our quarry swimming hole 5 times this summer, but I was grateful for every time.
• I’m grateful for our sweet house, built on a rock on a hill, an oasis of safety, contemplation, contentment, and joy.
• I’m grateful for all those gorgeous, delicious meals shown below, which were made by others.
• I’m grateful for our huge, yearly, used-book-sale put on by a local library, where I buy great secondhand gifts. I’m also grateful for my compelling to-be-read pile that lurks invitingly on the stairway banister in the office/studio. I’m grateful for all the good books I’ve read and all those good books I’ll read in the future. I’m grateful for all my book groups as well, each one with precious community. I’m grateful for all of you doing this blog’s Reading Challenge with me, and I’m grateful you encouraged the structure of it to be looser this year.
• I’m grateful my husband and I play cribbage most nights after dinner. I’m also grateful we were able to replace our old master’s edition of Phase 10 on ebay; our original set was beyond worn out. We had loved it almost to shreds.
• I’m grateful everyone in our branch church is so loving and willing to pitch in. I’m grateful there is not a Pharisee in the bunch, and that we welcome visitors with unified, heart-filled joy. I’m grateful recently we’ve had visitors who really felt all that love. I’m grateful our music is so good too; we have a particularly amazing pianist.
• I’m grateful for new opportunities for both my husband and me to bring our talents to bear. I’m grateful his podcast, The Bible Speaks to You, is still going strong, with many devoted listeners.
• I’m grateful I’ve sold three more paintings recently, and that I’ve been juried into the prestigious, national, Renaissance in Pastel show this fall.
• I’m grateful there is a candidate running for President that I can enthusiastically vote for, instead of just voting against someone else. I am grateful to at last cherish some hopes that the election may not be a complete disaster.
• I’m grateful for Costco and the farmer’s market, for orange cars, for my new green top (above), for bubbles and wallpaper paste, for Gelli plates, for pinecones, for loons and bald eagles, for re-blooming orchids, for back to school photos, for new sneakers, for online ordering, and for rocking chairs. I’m grateful that all our children are gainfully employed, that horizons are expanding, that a new season is upon us. I’m grateful for singing around the campfire and in church. I’m grateful for compost piles, planting tulips in the fall, and heirloom tomato tarts.
• I’m grateful for education, discovery, experimentation, trustworthiness, impartiality, capability, productivity, satisfaction, gentleness, goodwill, and emancipation. I’m grateful that “infinite progression is concrete being.”
• I’m grateful to exist. I’m grateful you exist too.
• I’m grateful for each of you blog readers, and for how each of you in your own ways amplify good. Thank you for reading, subscribing, sharing, and commenting on this blog. And a special thank you too to those of you who support this blog financially. It wouldn’t happen at all without all of you. Thank you to each of you, for reading this far, and for being exactly who you are.

Put some of your grace notes in the comments!