Color of Thank You

It's late.  Over a month of blessings have slipped by.  The first of January would have been the perfect time to begin.  It didn't find its way into the Things I get to do today until this day.  But I'll make it up.

Post-it flags

I know one thing.  Whatever one focuses on will continue, will expand, will grow.  A friend recently shared the idea of daily writing down one thing that was a blessing, that she was grateful for, that was somehow special or miraculous.  She put the little slips of paper into a container.  At the end of the year she would take time to read through the tremendous wave of good fortune that had swept through her life in the last year.

The beginning of my gratitude bowl.
 Whatever one looks for,  one WILL find.
 Look only for the best!

So today I began, at last, to multiply my blessings, my abundance by writing down at least one thing each day that touched or thrilled me.  Pretty little post-it type flags can be written on, folded and sealed. Their color alone contributes to the beauty of this ritual.  Thank you is a lovely color.

All Is Well

Holiday Cheer from a friend to me.
Sending that Cheer on to all of you!

It's been awhile.  I've missed you.  Though I've been away from home most of the time since Thanksgiving and very busy when I wasn't, I'm finding that writing a brief, meditative or thoughtful perspective daily is as good for me as it is for you--maybe even better.

So I'm back saying hello, taking a long moment in contemplation, valuing my Space of Love, looking deeply into at least one spark of joy in each day, loving an instant when light flashes into knowing--these are all, once again, Things I get to do today.

Thank you for joining me from time to time.  When it looks like the world around us is going crazy, our time together, anchoring into the sweetness of a moment understood, will keep us grounded and sane, and will welcome peace into our souls.  May you all be blessed with Good Health, Abundance, and Great, Great Joy.

May You Be Blessed

May you be richly blessed with Good Health, Abundance and with Great, Great Joy!  May your heart be filled with peace, your life with adventure and your soul with expansion.  May you find in all the Things YOU get to do today an infinite number of things for which to be Thankful.

(I'm away visiting Mother and then Daughter.  Back on Sunday.)

Toni Award

My Italian neighbor, Tony, is a very generous sort.  In the summer I receive figs, greens, arugula, parsley, plums and asian pears.  I gratefully accept them all.

So the other day when I found a bucket of lovely assorted fruits on my front porch, I automatically thought it was Tony.  That afternoon, as I headed out on an errand, he was out front.  I quickly penned a "thank you" and put it in the bucket to return to him.  But something was off.  When I told him how much I appreciated the beautiful fruit, the colors, the smells, he looked at me rather blankly and a bit confused.  He speaks English quite well, and I was certain he understood me.  Either way, I left the bucket on his front steps.

Mother Nature's master artistry of colors and shapes:  Abundance

Two hours later, I checked email.  Toni, a dear friend who had recently moved to a small acreage with many fruit trees, was checking in with "by now you've probably found the bucket of fruit I left on your front porch."   Tony's befuddlement was now clear at least to me (he is probably still scratching his head.)  Immediate of the Things I get to do today is run across the street to Tony's and get Toni's bucket back.  Maybe Toni (Tony) means "great, big generous heart."

Hens From the Heart

I have a new flock of hens.  It's really small--two.  Based on what you know about my success with past flocks, you may be saying that's a very good thing.  And small is better, especially since these hens live in the house--on my stove.

Henrietta Spoon Rest

I have many friends.  A sweet small number of them are very dear.  And it surprised me recently to have two of them who live about as far apart as one can get in the USA--Boston and San Diego--gift me with chicken objects.  This charming spoon rest traveled over much of Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest USA to arrive at my house as a gift from Teresa.  A sweeter, quieter hen, you've never met.

Hilda Timer Hen

Then while I was visiting Karen in Boston last week, she surprised me with a more active, vocal chicken timer, who makes tick-tick sounds and then goes Bing! at the right moment.












It wasn't until I arrived home and set the two precious chickens, the two precious gifts from two precious friends on my stove top that I saw they were nearly twins.

Hilda and Henrietta at home

With gratitude, introducing you, my blog readers, to my flock of hens from dear, dear hearts is one of the Things I get to do today.  May I present Hilda and Henrietta!















***Additional posts added for December 3 & 4.  Read on.

Circle of Love

Maybe in a past life I was a tree.  I'm not sure if that is possible.  But when I opened the box and then the plastic bag that contained this wreath, the fragrance exploded through my whole being.  It wasn't just an ordinary nice smell.  All my cells understood that.

The box and its contents were not a complete surprise.  My dear, long-time friend, Therese, has sent me a wreath for my birthday, for Thanksgiving and for Christmas for several years now.  Since these three events are so close together, one glorious wreath is that circle of love that expresses her wishes in my behalf.  And I gratefully accept them.  This year the wreath stayed inside a few days while the bliss of those branches blessed our living space.

The last of the Things I get to do today is hang the wreath outside where it can stay joyously fresh until New Years and where it can send greetings of love, joy and peace to all who pass by.  Thank you, Therese.

I Want to Keep Them All

I have two dentists.  One I see twice a year for all the maintenance stuff.  The other I see about twice a year as well, but she's family, and we, just like you, seldom (never) do any dental work on family holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Instead we eat chocolates and sweets, enjoy ourselves and just generally have a grand time (brushing and flossing afterwards, of course).  Her office is in California, a long way from Oregon, so any dental work has to be special, just like the holidays.

My mouth has seen a ton of dental work--I believe "ton" is a technical dental term for the many hours I've spent in the chair over the years.  Repairs for decay and chips, root canals, caps and crowns had left me a rather mismatched and unique gathering of teeth .  I'm sure it made her fingers itch every time I opened my mouth.

Dr. Julie did my two front teeth and all visible teeth on
the right side (my left).

One day she tactfully volunteered that if I would get myself to her office, she would have a go at creating order and beauty with my visible top teeth.  So I did.  I can't tell you it was a picnic having three crowns and a bridge done in one day, but even the temporaries looked better than what I had.  And I went home a few days later with the best teeth I had ever seen.

Seldom does a day pass when I don't consciously appreciate what I see in the mirror, what my tongue feels, and what bites into my toast or an apple.  And now that I'm flossing that bridge, I don't feel the guilt of disregarding her gift to me: lovely teeth for a warm smile.   With my new commitment to flossing, I was a bit taken aback by a the first few words of a post on Dr. Julie's professional Facebook Page:  Did you know that you don't have to floss your teeth?  Dentists recommend that you floss only the ones you want to keep!

Things I get to do today: brush and floss those pearly whites, take really good care of them and say thank you.  So here it is:  Thanks--to you, Julie Furber, DDS, Yucaipa, California.