Thirty days of gratitude: Days 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15

This week has gone by in a blur. Yes, I've done my #gratitude30 thing, but only over on Instagram, feeding to Facebook and Twitter. But the blog? Yep, nope, none of that action, obviously.

Day 11: Indulgence

It seems rather humorous as I write this now (with chocolate bread pudding in my tummy), but earlier this week, when I took this picture, I was working hard at being "good" with my nutrition--salads and kale and such, and no sweets. So I decided to veer away from what I normally would post as an indulgence (dessert!), and took a pic of my new flannel pajamas (which are so very warm and cozy). Since that time, however, the parents have come to visit and while salads have stayed on the menu, sweet things have joined as well. The healthful way of being will return on Sunday!

Day 12: Nature

We are surrounded by beauty in our part of the country, but on this day I was feeling an autumn nostalgia for the trip that Corinne and I took last fall to NYC. Nature is such a big part of my world, and living close to nature has become very important to me in recent years. So seeing this patch of green on day 3 of our trip, when I was about up to here with crowds on the subway, felt pretty good. I can only imagine how grateful the people of the city are, to have this place to come and breathe.

Day 13: Rest

This guy knows how to rest. He can sleep all night and then wake up, have breakfast and nap for awhile. One of the many reasons we are such kindred spirits.

Day 14: Friendship

Seth has a longtime friend who came with us on vacation a couple of summers back. (I would not take just any kid away with our family for a week, that's for sure! This young man is special to us.) I am so appreciative of their friendship through the years. I think one of the hashtags I used for Instagram was #brotherfromanothermother.

Day 15: Beauty

I feel blessed to see beauty around me, every day. Some of that is because there really ARE beautiful things around me, but part of it is because I choose it. I choose to see beauty, to acknowledge the mundane (the sky! the fields! the pups! look at that tree! squirrel!). I love beauty.

Have a great weekend; enjoy the blessings around you and I hope your grateful list is long!

Friday night grateful moment

Driving home from post-work errands, I wasn't entirely sure I could muster a list of gratitude tonight. It's been a loooooooong week. Count every "o." Indeed.

But, once I pause and refresh, I am usually up for a little remembering of the gratitude, and of course this night is no exception. I'm fed, my feet are up, husband is near, and the evening outside has been just simply beautiful. Gratitude? In spades.

For family that cares, and reaches out. Thanks, family. (Group texts are the bomb. Am I right or am I right?)

For friends who care, and reach out. Thanks, friends. For responding to my voice messages/texts with sweetness, for encouragement and humor. (And music. Always for the music.)

For blueberries and nectarines and raspberries and blackberries and watermelon and tomatoes and cucumbers and corn and kale and potatoes; I'm grateful that every item I just listed is now ripe within 50 miles. Awesome.

For the weekend. For a day of rest, then a day of productivity, before we get to do it all over again.

For the power of words. I am daily reminded: Choose. Your. Words. (Someone's listening and will be influenced, I guarantee it.)

heavy

For joy.

For sadness, because it reminds me that joy exists in so many (unexpected) places.

For sweet puppies who greet me each night with hops and circles of happiness and licks and smiles.

For clouds that look an awful lot like they are lit from within. For sunsets that feel special, night after night. For wheatfields that go on and on, acre after acre of gold.

For anticipation... I do love having things to look forward to, and there are just enough summer teasers out there to keep me smiling. Nice. :)

For the amazing human body and the ability to heal. I'm especially grateful tonight for caregivers, a special breed of people, truly.

Color, color, color. Always grateful for color it its many forms; right now there are colors everywhere, from sky to earth to foliage to produce. Lovely to live somewhere with seasons.

I wouldn't have imagined in my earlier years how much I would grow to appreciate and be grateful for nature. I was talking with a friend today about our ideal kinds of trips, and I arrived at a few key points that make an area more appealing to me: fewer people (no crowds, please), more nature, and definitely good, fresh food choices; also, being able to walk and not rely so much on transportation. I know my love of NYC doesn't really fit that bill (though you can walk, and can find nature, there's no avoiding the crowds...), when I think about traveling for any length of time, having some wide open spaces to just breathe on occasion really does factor in.

For the habit of prayer, for the mindfulness to stop in the midst of stress and be calm (mostly), to look in the mirror, and breathe.

lakota

But especially, to know I am a child of God, and to rest in that knowledge, in peace.

I wish you a weekend of peace. And blueberries.

Pretties on the way to the (unsuccessful) morel hunt

 Does this look and feel like Memorial Day weekend to you? No, no it does not.
Mighty chilly for a morel hunt, but let's go give it a go...

There are little streams coming off the mountains... too mucky to power through in the truck, so we hiked.
Nothing will deter us from our morels!!

 The forest floor is covered with so many pretty things. When one is bent over like an old person keeping an eye out for the morels it is easy to get distracted by all the sweet green details.

Supposedly, the fact that the violets and wild strawberries are blooming means the morels should be sprouting... no one bothered to tell the morels. 

An hour later, here is our bounty... 

 Even Chief looks unimpressed.

A little reading upon returning to warmth and a fire:

Some great tips on when (seasonally) to look for morels.

An amazing news story of giant morels. (Must click through for the pictures, really.)

More hunting tips.

We came to the conclusion that we're a little early this year (we've had good success at the end of May in the past...). Temperatures this year in the area, at this altitude (around the treeline in Joseph, Oregon), haven't been warm enough, consistently enough, to sprout the fungi sufficiently. So, we'll be back.

Between now and then, I'll be working with Chief on his hunting skills... he was a bit scattered, a little distracted by the nearby cattle, excited about streams and deer scat... lots of room for improvement from him, for sure!