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.
It’s been a while! Let’s start this gratitude list with:
- That I get to travel to Nepal and Bhutan (via Singapore) with our older daughter. I am amazed that this opportunity is brought to me by credit card points! So grateful. You can look forward to a lot of photos from the trip when I get back!
- for Flynn who resuscitated this blog’s structure with competence and assurance. So grateful for the recommendation of him, and for dear blog readers among you who paid for him! I’m also grateful the whole blog calamity did not occur while I was out of the country, and that we never missed a day, even through it all!
- for getting to be at our cousin’s defense for her PhD in Genetics from Yale, and getting to celebrate with her after. So very proud of her and grateful she’s been local and involved with us while she has been here. She even honored us in her talk! That was unexpected. This woman is a remarkable blessing and I am so glad to know her.
- for our niece and her family coming to visit while on their way from North Carolina to Maine. Her husband and son had never been here before and it was nice to host them.
- for our clergy association, where I am finishing my second term as president. I’m grateful we are so convivial, and that all have community-driven hearts that I appreciate.
- for my to-be-read pile, and for a good reading year, where, by the end of October I’ve already read more than most years. I’ve read 70 so far, when my goal was 52. I’ve read a mixture of quality literature and nonfiction, mixed in with some fluff, and I’m grateful for all of it.
- for our older daughter’s attendance at two weddings this fall (see her hair at one in a photo below, and her at the other as well.)
- for our younger daughter enjoying sewing and recently purchasing all those buttons (see photo)
- for a lovely trip to Monhegan Island in Maine with friends to paint. What a precious place with really good people.
- for getting to visit a collector of my art and seeing it in her home, plus getting to see Polly Castor Art shower curtains from my merchandise site there too! I’m grateful to all who purchase and support my art.
- for a Sunday School student who has recently gotten engaged.
- for the last flowers of the season, and for our dear home and yard.
- for the whole autumn season; I love the canging of the leave and the vibrant blue skies. I’m so grateful to live in a place where this happens!
- for new pastels and for art materials in general, which are my life blood.
- for our cherished church, and all my practice clients; I love each of you!
- for the grape jelly my husband makes. Wow is it good– and check out his hands in the last photo!
- for the right to vote, for food prepared by others, for interesting vignettes everywhere like the guy reading his phone in the dump truck across the street (see photo), for a friend getting to go to Roche pastels in Paris (a bucket list item for me, for fountain pens, for new wool pants, for compost piles, for people of integrity, and for wisdom and kindness wherever found.
- I’m so grateful for you precious blog readers who have given me reason to post everyday for 18 years. Thank you for reading this blog, for subscribing, for sharing it, and for financially supporting it. You are the best! Thank you for joining me by amplifying good in the world!
Put some of your own grace notes in the comments!
