Tonight I am grateful to be back home safe and sound from my few days headed to and hanging out in Seattle Washington. It was an eventful trip to be sure, beginning with our epic drive up to Seattle from the Bay area (well, it was epic for us), getting my daughter situated in her new apartment on the campus of Seattle University, culminating with my return to San Francisco International Airport from which my son collected me this afternoon. I am tired, but I am glad to be home.
Tomorrow I will collect myself and get busy planning out what I need to be doing over the next few weeks. I have some ruthless sorting to do–throwing out all kinds of stuff that is currently littering my desk and piling up in various places in my house. I have to “rear back and pass a miracle” as my mother used to say. In common terms that means I have to get a heck of a lot done in a short period of time. Given that scenario I am going to once again keep tonight’s blogpost short and simple. My hope is that I will return to offering more in-depth explorations about the things I am grateful for. If that doesn’t happen shortly, I will potentially discontinue daily postings or go to an alternate delivery system. In the meantime I’ll stick with tonight.
Simple gratitudes: I am grateful for safe and uneventful travels. I’ve already posted my gratitude for the safe drive over the two days to get us to Seattle and for arriving safely home this afternoon. It wasn’t just about safe travel, but also about the enjoyable things that happened along the way for which I am also grateful. Listening to music, singing, having interesting and funny conversations with my daughter, taking pictures of beautiful scenery and interesting oddities–like a sign for bear crossing and a town in Oregon named “Weed.” All of these things were part of the travel experience along with the white knuckle nervousness of creeping slowly up mountain passes and plummeting down the steep grades on the other side. We didn’t actually plummet, but at times it felt like we were. I am a good driver, but not the most intrepid one when mountains are involved. I was indeed quite grateful when things flattened out in the vallies and I could get back up to faster speeds. I did what I often do in situations like the mountain driving–I breathe and stay as relaxed as I can. I take my time and don’t berate myself for the flutters of anxiety that arise at any given time. I am patient and kind with myself and, as with the mountain driving, the scary moments pass.
I am grateful to be back in my room and will be glad to be sleeping in my own bed this evening. I think I won’t even set the alarm tomorrow morning, though I’ll likely awaken early anyway. It’ll be good to get back into a rhythm here at home, though I most definitely enjoyed my “excellent adventure” with my daughter this past week. While I’m not quite sure what’s ahead for me over the next few months, I’ll do my best to appreciate life as it unfolds and continue to offer gratitude every day. Thanks as always for being on this journey with me.
