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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Its early morning and I have my front window open to let in some fresh air. I can hear the birds singing and calling to each other. It is such a beautiful sound.  A sound that never changes.  An eternal sound. I find it to be quite comforting.  This thing that never changes and sounds the same no matter where I am or live.  The awakening of the day . . . a fresh start.

 

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My beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because 

Christ hath ascended into heaven? 

Behold, I say unto you nay, 

for it is by faith that miracles are wrought. 

~Moroni 7:27, 37

I was reading something posted by David Butler this morning. He is in Israel at the moment and he was talking about being in a land where manna and quail rained down from heaven, waters parted, and water gushed from hidden wells.  And he posed the thought, had miracles ceased to be . . . I say miracles have not ceased to be. We are surrounded by them every day. Some of them are incredibly tangible and you can see and touch them, recognizing them very easily.  Others maybe you can only see  in retrospect, but they are there. My whole life is a living, breathing, miracle. Me being here, in my little house, with my two cats in the yard.  

Its all a matter of perspective.  Miracles are where you find them. But first you have to look.

 

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Sometimes we allow ourselves to get all twisted out of shape about things that happen.  We stress and we worry. And often it is for naught. Generally speaking, things have a way of sorting themselves out in the long run, and, it isn't the worrying or stressing about them that does it.   Its like that song says, "Don't worry, be happy."  Things have a way of working out one way or the other. 

I am like  my mother in that I have a tendency to be a worry wart. I need to tell myself more often . . .  "He hasn't dropped you yet.  He's not about to now."   I know it sounds easy to do . . .  this not worry or fretting business.  It takes practice.  Worry is the thief of peace. 

My father is 89 years old and I think one of the reasons he is still with us is because he doesn't sweat the small stuff. In fact he lets everything pretty much just roll off his back like water off a duck.

 

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Glenna will be coming home from hospital today. She hasn't gotten any better, but she has also not gotten any worse.  Her daughter arrived last night from Alberta to help care for her.  They have requested that nobody visit for a while as Glenna has a lot of adjustments to make, and people smothering her will only make the adjustment more difficult. So for now, just cards.  I totally understand that. It makes sense.

Glenna likes cards.  She was always posting cards off to people.  I would often see her on her way to the mail box with a handful of cards she was sending off to people, or we would stop at the post box on our way to church so she could drop a card or two into the post.  I think she will be greatly lifted up by receiving cards.

When I was in the motel in Quarantine, she knocked on my door one day. Properly masked, etc. and she had a rose and a card to welcome me back to Canada.  That was very kind of her.  I had no idea that I would one day be living across the street from her.  Funny how life goes.

 

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The ants have slowed down a lot. I am only finding the odd one now.  Thank goodness. I got those Terro ant bait stations. They worked a charm. Much better than the traditional ones which are filled with peanut butter.  I had to grit my teeth the first day that I had them down and just try to ignore the hundreds of ants that were visiting them, but within twenty four hours things were much, much better, and much more manageable.  Whew!

And the powers that be have filled in that deep trough at the end of the street (with gravel) that they had dug  to fix the street lights. So, for the time being anyways,  it doesn't threaten to kill the suspension on your car every time you drive over it.

 

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I can almost hear them . . . 

one Mississippi, two Mississippi,

ready or not, here I come.

The children will soon be finished school.  I called my daughter in law to wish her a Happy Birthday yesterday and Luke told me that he only has two more weeks to go.  Then the fun will start. Swimming at the pool, bike riding, hanging out with his friends.  I hope that I will have a chance to see them this summer.  I know that Doug and his family are coming down for a camp in July so I will get to see them then.  And Eileen will be staying with me for ten days, which is something to look forward to.  I hope that the summer doesn't pass by too quickly, and that we get to enjoy some of it while it is here. 

I remember as a child summer holidays seemed to last forever. We were always more than ready to go back to school when the time finally came.  My family did not take holidays away.  It was too expensive. My parents were not campers so we didn't even go camping.  At best we might have had a day at the beach. When we got older we did take trips to visit my father's family in Quebec and I remember going to visit my mother's sister on PEI once.  

In the UK, most people take a holiday of some sort in the summer months.  Usually abroad, as it was too expensive to holiday right in the UK. Funny how that goes.  That it would be cheaper to fly to Benidorm and stay for a week than it would be to go to Devon. It should be the other way around.

I know when my children were growing up we didn't have money for holidays either.  We used to go to PEI to visit my ex's mother and father, and then his mother. While we were there we might have a day at the water park. But it was a change of scenery, and we got to travel on the ferry twice (this was before the bridge.)  The kids were always given money to buy something to eat and drink in the cafeteria on the ferry.

They say a change of scenery is as good as a holiday, and it is. When Eileen is here I want to go on a few day trips. She will enjoy that and so will I!  We'll take a picnic lunch.

And with that I will leave you with a thought for today  . . . 

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

 *The whole of life

lies in the verb seeing.

~Pierre Teilhard De Chardin

•。★★ 。* 。•。★★ 。* 。

In The English Kitchen today I am sharing a variety of ways to keep things interesting in the kitchen on weeknights.  Quick & Easy Weeknight Dinners the Family will Love.  We all need dinner inspiration now and then.

I hope your week ahead is filled with an abundance of small and wonderful things!  Whatever you get up to, stay safe, be happy and don't forget!

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And I do too!