Friday night grateful moment

Oh it is such a lovely night out, finally. After a week (or two or three) of funky weather--when's the next rainstorm? wait a few minutes!--it has finally warmed up and cleared up quite nicely. Not hot, but not cold... and you know the hot will come! When the sun went down tonight the whole world was golden, for a few minutes; those are my favorite kinds of day-endings.

This week I'm grateful for my family, the near ones and the far ones, for their continued health and safety. This is a crazy world we live in, and I don't take that stuff for granted, at all. I shared a quote via text with my mom today--it fits where they're at (on vacation) and where I am too (not on vacation): "After all, a vacation is not a matter of time or place. We can take a wonderful vacation in spirit, even though we are obliged to stay home, if we will only drop our burdens from our minds for awhile. But no amount of travel will give us rest and recreation if we carry our work and worries with us." -Laura Ingalls Wilder, from a book of essays. Hope your trip is fabulous, you two travelers!

I'm grateful that Seth passed his driving test last night. Whooo! I've actually never seen him so nervous before. He usually takes tests like he's eating cotton candy, but with this one there was some sweating. He had the biggest grin on his face when he walked back into where I was sitting and waiting while he drove around with the tester. Biggest. Grin. Me, I'm grinning because maybe, just maybe, my taxi days are behind me?!

I'm grateful for laughter. I had a number of really good laughs this week, mostly at ridiculous videos Seth showed me on YouTube. But still, get the laughs while you can, right? In case you missed my sharing on Facebook, I would highly recommend starting this one around minute two, watching only the first couple of minutes of this one, and just enough of this one to get the gist. (That last one might just be burned into your brain for a while; I apologize about that!) But I do hope you laugh.

I'm grateful for early summer eating. Fresh pesto. Strawberries. Asparagus. Kale. Baby potatoes. All the freshness makes me happy! There are even a few ears of corn around here, and a watermelon... those might be pushing the season a touch, but I do love heading into this season of flavors!

I'm grateful that General is a) still here, and b) has settled in just beautifully, and c) that he and Chief do well together. Last weekend when we were working around the property, he was gallivanting here and there, trying to keep up with Chief, chase Seth on the mower, etc. When we came inside he collapsed. Like, in a heap, sound asleep. I thought we might have killed him from exertion... But he slept soundly overnight and woke up happy. And he's continued to just feel like a part of the family, which makes ME very happy too.

Nap buddies. 

Life on the farm is hard.

I'm grateful for hand-me-downs. This week I got two things handed down to me... and through the network of small-town generosity, both originated from the same lovely soul (let's call him Tom). A friend emailed me and said he didn't have enough sun in his back yard to support two fig trees and would I like them? Um, yes! And then later in the week, another friend asked me if I wanted a sourdough starter that had originated from the fig-giving friend. Again, a solid yes. So, sometime over the summer, I will hope to make some figgy flatbread and give a big shout out to Tom!

I'm grateful for sleep--the promise of not having to wake early tomorrow! Twice this week either husband or I had early morning commitments that meant rising, really being up and at it, by 4:45 a.m. Which, of course. means that you then worry about sleeping through an alarm, and wake at 2 a.m., maybe 3 a.m., and definitely 4 a.m. Turning off all alarms for tomorrow, and please, no one call! (If that isn't an invitation to the pranksters, I don't know what is!)

I am always grateful for new mornings, fresh starts, renewed grace to face whatever comes our way. Every. Day. There are promises that have significant meaning to me, and reminders. Here are a couple that bring me peace, lately:

covered

God's handwriting

love

I hope you have an absolutely splendid weekend ahead, filled to the brim with good things.

Peace.