Tonight the Muses have once again deserted me. I would have been happy for any of them to show up to accompany me as I sought to write about gratitude. There were nine of them–Muses that is. Who knew? When I looked them up in the dictionary that is conveniently situated on my computer, this is what it said:
The Muses are generally listed as Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Euterpe (flute playing and lyric poetry), Terpsichore (choral dancing and song), Erato (lyre playing and lyric poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Thalia (comedy and light verse), Polyhymnia (hymns, and later mime), and Urania (astronomy)
Perhaps there is no explicit muse for blogs–though back in the days of Greek and Roman mythology there were no blogs. Still, I’d bet that perhaps Thalia is the one I’d most be needing for this blog–though perhaps epic poetry wouldn’t be bad had Calliope chosen to show up. But alas, what I have with me is the sounds of the night critters chirping and whirring through the open window as I sit on my bed, computer on my lap typing this blog. It has been a refreshingly cool day for August–my windows have been open all day, the air conditioning hasn’t kicked on all day.
Hey wait…was that Thalia making a brief appearance? Yes! Inspiration. Tonight is one for offering simple gratitude: those basic, uncomplicated, blessings that we miss if we don’t notice them. Like how much I appreciate sleeping with my windows open and the air conditioning off. I can listen to the night sounds in the evening and the songs of the birds in the mornings. So often as I sit I hear the unique sound of the “little bird with the big voice,” whom I discovered to be that Carolina wren, singing happily in the early mornings, along with the familiar songs of the cardinal, blue jays, robins and other winged ones. Their songs make me smile. They are such a simple, uncomplicated blessing. I am also grateful this evening for my younger sister and her family with whom I spend intentional time each weekend. While at times I worry that I make a nuisance of myself with my weekly appearances, I have been assured that my presence is welcome most any time. Today we went to the movies and dinner afterward. I had a lovely time with them.
I remain grateful for my favorite summer fruits: I can still find sweet cherries and watermelons in the grocery store, and will continue buying them for as long as the stores stock them and they are reasonably priced. Such a simple thing, but I love the flavors and the feel of summer. The summer days which have flown by are slowly giving way to fall–the days are shorter, the weather is cooling and before too long the subtle changes in the color of the leaves will begin, if they haven’t already. My weekday morning routine will shift back into back-to-school mode as I watch the neighborhood children line up on the sidewalk in front of my house where there is a bus stop. I could measure whether I was on time with my morning preparations by what I was doing when the bus picked the kids up between 7:23 and 7:27 each day. Simple blessings.
My apologies to the Muses as a group and my thanks to Thalia of comedy and light verse for showing up for me in the nick of time this evening. I am grateful always for something, sometimes it takes me a bit to figure out what it is and how to express it. Every day is a good day for gratitude and a good day for a smile. And so for no reason other than the fact that they make me smile and that they used to be a regular part of my blog, I am going to post a picture of my group of friends that I miss more than I can say and express my wish to encounter some of their relatives out here in Maryland sometime soon. Until then, I’ll simply smile at the pictures.
Trespassing Turkey
Turkey's at the Stop Sign October 2011
