Today I got as much done as I didn’t yesterday. I rose relatively early, engaging in my morning journal writing before the usual morning routine of walking and feeding the dog and preparing for the day. I did my grocery shopping early (home before 11:30) and then raked up the leaves in three-quarters of the yard (I ran out of energy and they weren’t that bad in the other quarter of the yards). I started my laundry before finally collapsing on the sofa in mid-afternoon. After having a bite of lunch I totally conked out, tired and achy and nodded off.
This evening I am grateful for simple things. It was a fair day–sunny and mild, and perfect for raking leaves, except for the occasional breeze that blew the leaves tumbling away from my neat piles. Honor lazed in the sun watching and occasionally sitting up alertly to watch an occasional squirrel scurrying in a neighbor’s yard. I listened to my book and enjoyed the day in spite of my exertions in the yard.
I am enjoying as usual the gathering of birds at and near the feeder since I rehung it last week. This morning as I walked Honor I saw a half dozen mourning doves feeding in the grass. I knew that a pair had nested nearby, but to see three pairs of the lovely greyish-colored doves was exceptional. I was also excited that in addition to the frenzied flapping of the sparrows, fussing at one another and jockeying for position at the feeder and the occasional nuthatch that bravely intruded into the melee, a rather large blue jay visited the feeder once or twice this morning, positioning himself somewhat awkwardly and stealing a few seeds before fleeing. I can hardly wait until the cardinals return, but I know that isn’t likely to happen for several more weeks, perhaps not until December after the first snowfall. On a sunny and warm mid-Autumn day, I am not likely to see them. Ah, but the anticipation.
Finally, I remain grateful for my weekly routine of having dinner with my sister Ruth and her family. It is indeed a simple blessing. Besides the special meal that my sister often prepares when I visit, it is always vastly entertaining to watch the interactions between the four of them, her two children bantering back and forth, their parents joining in. It is so wonderfully normal, whatever normal means, and I am oh so grateful to be included in their lives in this simple but meaningful way. I remain deeply grateful that after the difficulties I experienced during my “series of unfortunate events” in 2011, that I landed in a place where I could heal surrounded by the loving presence of my three sisters and their families. It is a blessing I do not and likely will not ever take for granted.
Once again I find myself at the close of the weekend looking forward to the work week ahead immersing myself in the practice of gratitude, appreciating all that surrounds me, all that is within me. Recently I found myself saying that I wanted to begin some sort of spiritual practice to ground myself each day, but as I sit here savoring and appreciating the blessings in my life I realize that I already have one daily spiritual practice, and a fine one at that. Some days the primary prayer I say in a given day is “thank you,” and that indeed is sufficient.
