I have been sitting here struggling with what to put up for a post, and have had trouble coming up with one. Happily, my inspiration came in the form a photo. And while I am happy that I have a photo that I can post, I am not happy about the post in the photo. Because the post in the photo is definitely down. (The lamp post down here is in my front yard, and it is supposed to be upright. It was a bit on the wobbly side until some time on Monday, at which point a windy day fixed the wobbliness. Yay! It no longer wobbles.)
Category: photos
turkey feast
Our neighborhood flock of wild turkeys has been coming around frequently again lately. Their numbers seem to have increased, as well. About a week ago, I counted 35 turkeys in our back yard.
This morning, a few of them stopped by the bird feeders for their Thanksgiving Day feast. It’s fun to see them jumping to reach the bird feeders.
My family’s Thanksgiving feast is also finished, and included fewer seeds, and much less jumping. We had family visiting from California, and a few local friends joined us as well for a total of 12 for dinner. It was another long day of cooking and such. Tomorrow morning, I have to drive my sister and nephews to the airport at around 4, so I am once more short on time to write.
shadow of a blog post
At the end of another long day of household tasks and a house full of guests, I find myself without time or energy to write. I open my laptop, and get caught in a sequence of news articles about the election and its fallout. I follow trails of hope, trip over infuriating updates, and then stumble back into pits of gloom and doom.
I want to write more, but I think I really need to sleep in order to keep functioning. I can’t tell whether I am getting sick, or am merely sick with tiredness and worry. The gratitude will have to wait once again.
achievement unlocked: bowl of lemons
At some point in the last few months, I came across a list post that amused me enough that I not only remembered it, but referred back to it a few times: 15 Tips That Will Trick Your House Guests Into Thinking You Have Your Shit Together . In particular, I liked this item: “8. Get the biggest bowl in your house and fill it with lemons.” It may not be the biggest bowl in my house, but I did indeed fill (sort of) a (somewhat) big bowl with (actual) lemons. Sadly, I neglected to properly highlight this achievement to my dinner guests.
Once again, I’m too tired from a long day of food shopping and food prep to come up with a new thing for which to be grateful. I’m grateful again for sleep (which I’m about to achieve), reading (which I may manage to do for a few minutes before sleep), and food (which I enjoyed eating following the preparation).
Tomorrow, I have more food preparation ahead of me, in anticipation of more guests on Thursday. I may not manage to get everything organized enough to convince my guests that I have my shit together, but at least I’ll have the bowl of lemons.
more than half full
My mind, like this glass of water, is more than half full these days. Indeed, it feels close to overflowing. (Unlike the glass in these images.)
Tonight, I am grateful for clean water. It is so easy to take for granted ready access to water that is fit for drinking, as well as for washing. I am lucky to live in a place where water is generally plentiful and clean. Of course, it shouldn’t be about luck. Every human being should have access to something as critical to life and health as safe drinking water.
scientific attraction
My sister and nephews are visiting, and we managed a big excursion into Boston today to go to the Museum of Science. We’ve had a membership for the last few years, and go regularly. In spite of having been there numerous times, there are always new things to notice. (Whether they are new attractions, or just spaces we hadn’t managed to visit yet.)
For my daily(ish) enumeration of gratitude, I offer my gratitude to science.
not out of the woods
Today was a beautiful day, and I managed to spend a bit of time outside in the woods with the kids and puppy. It is good for me to be out in the fresh air, and away from the lure of my laptop, and the constant stream of news. I am still in shock about the election results, still grieving about them, and still worried sick about what this will all mean for the future.
This month, in addition to posting daily, I have been working to take stock of the many things for which I am grateful. While I have successfully managed to post something every day so far this month, there have been a few nights when I have been too tired to come up with a new item. (Or sometimes it’s more that I want to be able to devote more time to write about the things for which I am grateful.) In any case, I skipped the last couple of nights, so I owe 3 items for today.
First, I am grateful for having a life that is so full that it is often a struggle to find time to sit down and take stock. While I often feel overloaded with demands on my time and energy, I recognize that these demands are due to having many good things and good people in my life.
Second, I am grateful that I am stubborn. This stubbornness (or persistence, to use a more positively weighted term) pushes me to keep working on things, keep working through things, and work towards goals.
Third, I am grateful for having clean air to breathe.
red leaves, on and off the trees
Most of the brightly colored leaves have dropped in the last few weeks, but a few trees have stubbornly held on. I had hoped that these little Japanese maples would hold on to their leaves for a few more days to welcome my California guests with a display of New England fall color. However, a heavy rain storm brought most of the remaining leaves down in short order. On the bright side, the fallen blanket of red leaves still looks pretty, as do the sparse remaining leaves clinging to the branches.
Once again, I am without time and energy to enumerate my gratitude. I guess I’ll need to serve up a triple helping tomorrow…
drop leaves
Once again, I am out of time and energy to write. It’s after 11, and I am falling asleep with my hands on the keyboard. I did manage to pick out some photos to share, but I will have to drop (or leave) the gratitude for today. Anyhow, here are some leaves with water drops that caught my eye during my walk with the dog yesterday morning.
collecting tokens 