Thankful

 

I can’t explain exactly why I feel such a sense of satisfaction each year when I flip the calendar page to November. It just seems like one of the perfect months. The mums are blooming. Our weather isn’t too nasty yet. We get a week-long break. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday. Everyone starts Christmas shopping and thinking about how to make other people happier.  November just makes me smile.

I am going to start off the month with a little thankfulness and perhaps return to the subject from time to time.

I am especially thankful today that I had the opportunity to speak to each of my children this weekend. Karen and Katrina called me and Robert stopped by yesterday. With our family so spread out from coast to coast I sometimes feel like a failure as a parent and grandparent. I was raised to believe that families should be involved and interactive and I don’t always feel that way. Just one of the realities of our circumstances.

 

I am thankful for my health. I do worry from time to time, like Friday night when my legs were aching. But I’m still at the “bounce back” stage of life when a couple of days of rest and normal routine have me feeling great again. I haven’t thought much about my diet or done anything exciting one way or the other in two weeks and I have neither lost nor gained a pound. I suppose that is also good.

I am thankful for friends who cheer me and encourage me and inspire me and fascinate me. I love talking to them and reading their emails and exchanging info on blogs and FB. Friends help me see a different perspective and to understand the world beyond my little country hill.

I am thankful that I became a teacher. My students and parents and colleagues have enriched my life beyond measure. Being part of the foundation of our society gives me a profound sense of responsibility and accomplishment. Working with such young children keeps me young and excited about life.

 

I am thankful that I discovered the joy of taking pictures. Looking through that lens and recording little moments of the day keeps me aware of the beauty around me, even when I have to search a little to find it. And sharing it with you brings me even more joy.

I am thankful that I am finally at a point in my life when I can help others. I can donate a little money to worthy causes, buy a few extra gifts for strangers, give some food to the local food collections, and buy little treats for my students without breaking our budget. I was the recipient of so many gifts and donations in my early years that it brings me peace to be at the other end of the line.

So, I will save a few items for another day.

 

I have a few photos here from the yard. Not much going on right now. But when the flowers and trees and critters are getting a little boring, I can always count on Babe to do something blog-worthy for me! LOL We were watching a nature program about crows, when one started cawing. Babe came running in from the other room to investigate. She sat in front of the TV and watched. Then check behind it, then under the table, then back up to the screen. I guess she finally determined there was no danger because she settled onto the couch to finish the show with us.

 
  

Have a grateful day!