Monthly Archives: August 2015

The bracelet

Gratitude

1. God
2. Five years or so ago, Emily gave me a bracelet, nickel or nickel plated, with the Serenity Prayer inscribed upon it.
3. I wore it every day as a reminder, for about two years, like a talisman or amulet.
4. One night at my mother and father’s house, while putting stuff in the car, the bracelet slipped off my wrist. It was too dark to discover immediately.
5. Later a search of the car turned up nothing, nor did I see it in the driveway or on either side, especially under the row of burning bushes.
6. Since, every now and then, I would look, and not see it. Snow would come along, and pass with other seasons.
7. Yesterday, visiting my mother and father again, I was talking with my father as he watered the grass and holding Peabody by the leash, who had other ideas (go, go, go,) and thought of it again.
8. A quick glance under the burning bushes and I noticed some end of a metal coil pointing up, sitting on top of the dead leaves there.
9. I put it on, not much worse for wear, needing a little polish maybe.
10. I could say, where did my serenity go during the time it was missing. That would seem too facile, and yet there was a time last year after hearing it said that I realized I’d forgotten it – the words, never mind the practice,
11. a gift I wasn’t looking for and was always there and still is, absent me or the bracelet.

Apples

Gratitude

Picking apples
Planning applesauce
And tomato
Moving forward
“Do unto others” stories from Peace Pilgrim
Praying for FIL
My daughters, who learn and grow and change daily
Stars
Understanding on new levels
Learning new things
Connecting with the source of things- what we buy, for one
A’s excited storytelling
“If you grow your own food, you don’t waste it. If you have to take responsibility for your own water supply, you’re probably not going to shit in it. I was speaking with a journalist recently about a report from the Department for Environment Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)(19) which states that bread is now the number one food item that we waste, and he asked me why I thought that was so. I told him it is simply because we no longer have to knead and bake our own bread. If we had to put thirty minutes of love and elbow grease into it, we wouldn’t waste a slice.” From the Moneyless Manifesto which can be read online for free

Gratitude
  • Whew!  Accomplished a huge project!
  • Minimizing….sorting
  • Pleasant memories
  • Putting up our large canvas tent that we’ve had for 50 yrs….they made things to last back then :)
  • GPa’s Air Force duffle bag….did I say they made things to last back then ? :)
  • David and GPa lake fishing
  • GPa spent many years “rousing out” our family at 5a.m. to go fishing…
  • …now the roles are reversed…
  • …but always so enjoyable! :)
  • In Montana there are approximately 1900 lakes covering 400,000 acres.

Gratitude

1. God
2. Echo of the chime where does the sound vanish, where go the waves
3. Circles
4. Passing by houses
5. Puffy cumulus clouds in a blue sky
6. The apple tree rooted in the ground and in the mind

Gratitude

1. God
2. Reading outside in the morning
3. Afternoon nap
4. Scent of freshly harvested basil
5. Shocked by sunflowers
6. Announcement of yellow finch
“Set the mind
before the mirror of eternity

and everything will work.”
-from “Untitled” by Franz Wright

Gratitude

Very Grateful for:
God, El Olam
a walk during the early, early dark of the morning
the sky, punctured with so many stars that I started to cry
the power of Ezekiel 11:19
Garrett’s insights
Jud’s information
memory
Samantha, who was so good to Ruby
lamb chops marinating now
the physical realization from signals from my body, that I musts unplug this weekend; the continued fight will have to wait

When we clench old things in our hands, we prevent new things from being able to hold hands with us. ~Brave Girls Club