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.

We watched this film on Saturday evening.   I had never seen it before.  It was really good.  I gained a deeper understanding of just how women gained the vote and the sacrifice involved, the price which was paid for our right to do so by so many women.  And yet today it is a right which is taken for granted by so very many people, and even squandered.   I came to the realization that freedom always comes at a price.  There are countries in the world today where women still don't have the right to vote or choices to make or the freedom to choose.  In the West we take our freedoms very much for granted.  Probably because, for me anyways, I have always had them.  I vow this year to appreciate what I have for what it is and to be grateful for the sacrifice which brought these things to me. Never take it for granted.

Todd tired very easily these days.   We have to get all that we need to get done early in the day.  I have always been a morning person anyways, so that works for me.   Todd, he's not so much a morning person.  Some days he struggles even in the mornings.  Other days are really good days and he doesn't struggle at all.  Grateful for those and indeed grateful for any day at all, even the ones that are struggles.  I am my love and my love is me.  We are so blessed to have each other.  He is always so grateful when I go to his appointments with him, but . . . .  where else would I want to be?   I tell him that with him is where I always want to be . . .  good, bad or inbetween.  He is my eternal companion.  I love him.   I don't just love the healthy him, or the happy him, or the energetic him . . .  I love HIM.  There is no place I would rather be than by his side.

I love seeing these two together.  I can tell they are more than brother and sister, but also great friends.  May it always be so.  Siblings are a gift.  They share something with you that nobody else on earth shares with you.   You have a history with them that nobody else can ever completely know or understand.  I am so grateful for my own sister and brother and that we are also friends.  We may not have a lot of other things in common but it doesn't matter.  We love each other and we CARE about each other.  We got each other's backs.  Having a brother or  sister or both is just the best thing ever.

It only becomes a problem when it becomes more than a little . . . . I am a great fan of dark chocolate.   I like the Green & Blacks dark milk chocolate.  It is my favourite of all chocolates.

This is a recent photo of Lucy one of my grand-doggies.  She has grown into a beautiful dog.  I love also this glimpse of my homeland, the Valley, even in the Winter . . . it is a beautiful place.    I think that Orchards give us a wonderful glimpse into the seasons.  Even in the winter you can see the promise of springtime . . .

Grateful for a heart that feels  . . .  all things.   I would rather be the way I am, feel the things that I feel, than be stone cold and heartless, even if it does really hurt sometimes.

Grateful to know who I am and why I'm here and where I am going when I leave here.  Even if I do sometimes need reminding.   I am not afraid to die.  Not really.   Oh, I know I will miss the people I love, and leaving them behind is the only thing which scares me, because I think to myself, I'm not ready to leave them.   I will never be ready to leave them, but somebody has to go on ahead.  Every adventure begins with someone who is ready and willing to take that first step into the unknown.  As the oldest of my family that position falls to me and I would not want it any other way.  I could not bear for one of them to go first, so I will lead the way, even if I do sometimes feel afraid.  I know in my heart that something much better awaits us.  When I think of that I get really excited.

 

So grateful for new days and new beginnings, opportunities and chances, fresh clean pages to write upon.   Each day I tell myself, today I am going to write the best story yet of my life!  And somehow, it happens.  Each day that passes somehow becomes magically even better than the day before!  There is always a blessing, a lesson, a joy, a miracle, an opportunity to take/make/experience.

Sometimes I think my mother should have called me Pollyanna becuse I play the "Glad Game" every day!  Didn't you just love that movie!  It is one of my all time favourites and I never get tired of it.

A thought to carry with you through today  . . .

.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *.˛.° ˛°. . 
˛*If you look for the bad in people
          expecting to find it,
                   you surely will.
                       ~Abraham Lincoln  •。★★ 。* 。


Spiritual Enlightenment



In the English Kitchen today  . . .  Sticky Maple Bangers with Irish Champ.

Hope your week ahead is filled with a multitude of small and wonderful things!  Don't forget along the way that  . . .

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And I do too!