Small and Wonderful Things . . .

 

"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny? It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. What you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard 

 A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best. 

 

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We've had a very snowy and cold weekend here in the Maritimes.  I did get out to pick up some bread, etc. on Saturday but to be honest, the rest of the time I have barely moved from my home, and that's okay.  I am grateful to have a home to shelter in. It all looks like a bit of Narnia outside the window, and that's okay also. I have nowhere to be or to go. I can just enjoy looking at it all from the safety and comfort of my home. What a great blessing that is. We really did not get even a fraction of what had been promised, so that is a good thing.

The security of home. Although not a small thing, it is a very wonderful thing.

 

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I have now finished two actual books this year.  Not just on the kindle. I have lots of books on the go on my kindle, but I have been reserving the "real" ones for reading in bed at night and I have now finished two of them. I used to read in bed every night, for years and years, and for hours and hours.  Especially when the children were younger.  I did not have time during the day to do any reading and so I only read at night. There were no kindles back then either. I used to get books out of the library and once I got into bed at night, I would read, and read, and read. I have probably read hundreds of books through the years.  

My tastes have changed a great deal. When I was a young woman I favored romance, and especially historical romance.  Then I went through a period of time where I read everything that Steven King wrote.  I started to like period dramas.  I now just fancy a great story. It can be a mystery, or a romance, or historical. I just fancy a great story.

 

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I am really enjoying The Comfort of Crows, by Margaret Renkl.  This is not a book that you sit down and read from cover to cover all at once.  Oh, you could do I suppose.  I am reading through it one week at a time, savoring it. 

It is a diary of sorts of a backyard year which was published in 2023, and I suppose was written in the year or years before that.

One of the recent chapters really resonated with me.  Meant for week 6 of Winter.

"To follow politics these days is to court bewilderment, denial, complete despair. Too often I feel I am living in a country I no longer recognize, a country determined to imperil every principle I hold dear and many of the people I love, too. Immersing myself in the natural world of my own backyard -- or the nearby parks and greenways, or woods surrounding our friends' cabin on the Cumberland plateau -- is the way I cope with whatever I think I cannot bear."

That, too, is how I cope. I take myself right out of the situation and rest my thoughts on other things. There are too many important people that I care about on both sides of the issue. There is little I can do about it anyways, and I never want to risk alienating people I care about.  I remind myself daily, that . . .  as broken as this old world might seem, as fragile as our peace may be . . .  this earth is, and always will be, heartbreakingly beautiful and filled with beautiful people, places and things. I give my attention to the small and simple things that matter most to me, and the people that I care about most of all and just leave the rest to get on with it . . .  most people are good at heart and there is good in every day.  That is the goodness I seek and where I find my peace. Life is just better that way.

 

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Today is a holiday here where I live and, in the U.S., also. Here in Nova Scotia, it is called Family Day. I know it is President's Day in America.  No stores are open, or civic offices, banks, schools, etc. It is a day meant to be enjoyed with your family. An extra day off for those who work, a long weekend. There was a time when such things mattered to me, but now . . . my days are mine to call my own. If I don't want to work, I don't have to work.  I can rest on my laurels any day of the week. 

I try to celebrate my family every day. I don't really need a special day to devote my thoughts, love and loyalties towards them.  For me every day is "Family Day."  I am grateful to have the luxury to feel this way.

I love my family and appreciate each one. Each member is unique with their own strengths and weaknesses, but there is a commonality amongst us all, and a history that is unique to us. I am grateful for that . . . to be a part of a family.

These are the unsung heroes of our lives.  The people who get up every morning and quietly go about their business.  Doing the simple things that need doing without seeking any notoriety or accolade for having done them, nor any reward. Seeing a need and fulfilling it in a quiet and simple way.

Women do this all the time and have been doing so for forever. Mothers, daughters, sisters, friends.  We see what needs to be done and we do it.  We go about it quietly, caring for our homes and our families. We do things for our neighbors and our friends and our communities. Just because. We see a need and we take care of it.

I am ever grateful for the unsung heroes in my life. 

 

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I am trying to decide what it is that I enjoy most about the travel videos I watch. Is it the scenery or is it the food.  Perhaps it is a little bit of both?  At the weekend I took both an Alaskan cruise and a trip across the Atlantic on the QE2. Both were magnificent journeys and both included fabulous meals.  

I think I am a great armchair traveler. And while I was at it, I got quite a bit done on my latest blanket.

That poor thing. It has been stuffed into a box for months and months.  I finally dragged it out for some air last week and have been working at finishing it ever since.  Partly because it needed to be done and partly because I have new yarn coming and a new pattern and I won't be able to start a new project comfortably, feeling guilt free, without knowing I have finished the last one.

 

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There is an old Cherokee tale about two wolves.  A boy was speaking with his grandfather about battles, and the grandfather said to him, 

 “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.” 

 “The same fight is going on inside you -- and inside every other person, too.” 

 The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one that you feed.”  

What a great reminder this is to us of how we can choose what we allow to reside inside of us. We can choose to feed the negative, or we can choose to feed the positive. 

That doesn't mean that we will ever be able to completely rid ourselves of fear, worry or doubt. But it does remind us that we can choose to move around them and to instead move towards love, kindness, generosity and hope. We can keep our focus practiced on the things in our lives which are positive, productive and beneficial, both for ourselves and for others. 

We can choose to feed the good wolf.

 

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I had a lovely phone call/facetime call with my friend Tina in the U.K. yesterday. We had not had the chance to speak for several weeks.  What a nice catch up we had.  That is the mark of a good friend, that you can go for days, weeks, months, sometimes years without speaking and each time you reconnect it is as if no time has passed.  

We both remembered our dear friend Peter Lee and his wife Audrey while we were talking and mentioned what wonderful people and friends they had been. How kind and generous of spirit, and what great examples they had been to us.

I am so grateful that, despite the sorrowful times of my life, God has seen fit to fill it with goodly and Godly people. People who have touched my life with their special spirits of light and of love. There are truly angels among us.

And with that I best leave you with a thought to carry with you  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

*.˛.°God is shaping you 

like a potter molds the clay.

Trust His hands.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

~Jeremiah 18:6    ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

New in the kitchen today, Cheesy Rutabaga and Carrot Casserole. This was simple and incredibly delicious.  What a fabulous side dish!  I enjoyed it with some baked fish.

I hope that you have a beautiful day and that your week ahead is filled with abundance. Whatever you get up to, don't forget!

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And I do too!