Gratitude: Things that Make Me Happy – 2020
More and more I believe in the power of gratitude upon my spirit. Following are the things I’m grateful for; they are the things that make me the happiest and most content (as I write this in 2020).
(I am very grateful for a wonderful husband and son, good health, the ability to put food on the table and so on; however, this list has a little different focus; I find that I quite literally say “Thank You” each and every time as I walk through and experience the following seemingly inconsequential activities; I have been doing so for the past year and a half and continue to do so.)
· Packing up the car and driving to our property every weekend. I enjoy the 3-hour journey as much as the destination (especially once we’re out of the city). We have good conversation, peaceful quiet moments, enjoy beautiful scenery, and listen to radio shows like “Garden Talk”, “Milk Street Radio”, “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”, “A Way With Words”, etc. I love it all and am very grateful for the opportunity to experience this this time.
· Unpacking at the property on Friday night and starting the process of staging our work for the next day (Saturday). Even though we’re working as we unpack our supplies for the “next” project, and I know there’s lots of work on the horizon, I love and am very grateful for this time and the associated “purpose”. It’s time and work that’s full of anticipation and thanksgiving.
· Taking our dog Maxie with me as I walk to the mailbox at the property on Friday night (sometimes with Ed).
· Sitting with my husband Ed and our dog Maxie on the back porch in the evenings as we begin to unwind.
· Walking to the road with Ed and Maxie and looking at the view across the road at sunset (three stacked “40’s” and then a big red barn, farm house, and security light off in the distance / at the end of those stacked 40’s) and looking up and down the road (a big hill on one side with a security light at the top of the hill; a dark hill on the other but often with the residual light of sunset).
· Listening to the Coyotes in the evening and early morning; especially when there are no other sounds to be heard.
· Listening to “nature’s symphony” consisting of the chirping of birds, crickets, and croaking of wood-frogs and toads. Every once in a while, there’s a much appreciated “gobble gobble” or the call of a crane or owl for which the joy and appreciation is even greater given the relative rarity of these sounds.
· Listening to the distant rooster crow or the distant cow moo.
· Watching the yard sparkle with fireflies night after night in the late spring / early summer.
· Looking up at the stars on a clear night.
· Watching the blue-jays, the robins, the cat birds, the cardinals, the yellow finches, the orioles, the hummingbirds, the house wrens, the woodpeckers fly around the trees in our yard and us keeping an eye out for new species of winged visitors with the eagerness / hopefulness / excitement of a child.
· Just sitting peacefully and quietly; listening and looking; nothing else; for long periods of time. It feels like such a luxury and I am so grateful for the time to take these moments of great peace.
· The wee hours of the morning where I feel like the only person in the world who is awake as I take our dog Maxie for a walk and give her breakfast.
· My simple and quiet breakfast of tea, a hard-boiled egg, foraged greens, onion, and a bagel. (Ed wakes up after me; he is not a breakfast kind of person.)
· Foraging for edibles; finding nature’s nutritious bounty which because it is given freely, is appreciated all the more.
· Reading my book between Saturday’s daytime projects and chores.
· The sense of accomplishment and a shower after a day of physical chores
· Taking a walk on and exploring our property and the fact that it never gets old. Thank you!
· Seeing what’s new for flowers in bloom.
· Tidying up the property (busy work).
· Trying to manage driveway weeds (again, busy work).
· A fresh mowed lawn at the property (and the first 30 minutes of actually doing the mowing).
· Having our son Henry visit the property with us.
· Planning and prioritizing our goals and projects with Ed.
· Playing the game “Escape Room” with Ed and Henry in the evening (when Henry does visit).
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