Wow is it ever hot this evening. Of course, I can’t complain, not even a tiny bit. The weather here for the vast majority of the summer has been cool, comfortable, and downright perfect. Considering the dangerously hot and humid conditions that have gripped most of the country over the past few weeks–my friends and family in the Midwest and East Coast have endured temperatures in the 100s–the mini “heat wave” that’s happening out here does not compare. If there’s one thing I can say about life in the Bay area, it is that the weather for much of the year is just about perfect. As I now seriously ponder living back in parts of the country where the four seasons are more pronounced, it truly causes me to appreciate the beautiful microclimate we enjoy here in the East Bay. I’m grateful for the beauty of the area in all its forms.
Tonight is one for simple gratitude: honoring those small but significant blessings that enrich our lives. Like cool water to drink on a hot day, fans and ice cream and light breezes. Back where I came from, this is the time of the fireflies, whose luminescent greenish glows flicker through the night like zillions of mini neon lights. I haven’t seen fireflies since I left Michigan seven years ago, except when I head back to Indiana or to the DC metro area to visit family. We don’t have them here in California. And more’s the pity. Nevertheless as I sit and listen to the now correctly identified Dark-eyed Junco singing her trilling song, punctuated by little staccato chirps, I realize how much I’ve come to appreciate the various fauna and flora that inhabit the surrounding countryside.
I’m grateful for all the amenities that I enjoy: running water, electricity, natural gas for cooking and heating. A roof over my head and solid walls around us protects me and my family from the elements, keeping us feeling safe and secure. We sleep in comfortable beds unless we choose not to (periodically my daughter prefers to sleep on the sofa in the living room.) Although we don’t have anything in the way extravagant possessions, and like many people we struggle to make ends meet each month, we are still wealthy by many standards around the world and even in parts of this country. At times when things have been tight for me these last few months, I have skipped meals here or there to save money. I have been hungry, but I have not gone hungry. Unless I am fasting, I eat every day and try to eat as healthily as I can given our budgetary constraints. Yes, I have been hungry, but not chronically deprived of adequate food as so many are in this country. Tomorrow when I go to work at the Food Pantry I will see families and individuals in different degrees of economic distress, from some who need a little help to get through the month to others who depend on the food they receive from us as their primary food source for them and their families.
I am grateful for the love of family and friends. Without some truly wonderful human beings in my life (and the occasional nonhuman), I don’t know how I would be standing strong after last year’s life storms. They have provided emotional and at times financial support without which I would be floundering if not completely done in. My heart aches for those who have no family or friends to speak of, who go through their life storms feeling alone and achingly lonely. When I offer metta–lovingkindness–for the good of all beings, I particularly extend my well wishes and prayers to those who have no one to whom they can turn for comfort and support. I have learned over the course of this difficult time to learn to speak up and ask for help rather than suffer in silence as I once would have done. As one who used to give generously without being asked it is quite different to be in a position of need and having to rely on the generosity of others. And while I look forward to the day when I can once again begin to give financially to others, I am grateful for the lessons I’m being taught about being a gracious receiver of blessings.
And oh what blessings there are in my life. I have said this many times in different ways, but it bears repeating: literally everywhere I look I see things to be grateful for. I can never not be grateful for something happening in my life at any given moment. I need only to look and I can find it. Gratitude doesn’t take a hiatus, only my ability to adequately express it fails from time to time. So on a night like tonight I can sit in simple appreciation for the many blessings that surround me. What are you grateful for this evening?
