1. God
“Every single thing in our lives takes on a sort of luminous glow through the lens of gratitude.” – Laura Grace Weldon in this blog post.
What moves us
What moves us not
Triton’s horn
Visiting
Unspotted from the world

1. God
2. Thea – she was my friend in third grade
3. She could draw pictures of people with such exactitude. It just seemed to come out of her. I could appreciate the finished product but didn’t observe the process or the patience or the practice that went into what she did.
4. We wrote stories together. Or maybe it was side by side.
5. We made each other laugh.
6. And school was a safe place for me because of her.
7. And I couldn’t understand or appreciate that, nor communicate it to her.
8. Boys would tease me that she was my girlfriend but no, I couldn’t have that, boys weren’t supposed to play with girls or like to do “girly” things. If anything though, she was kind of a “tomboy,” liked to hang around with boys, I think she played soccer and was probably quite skilled, and stronger and faster and smarter than me, though I never could have admitted it.
9. We remained close through fourth grade then drifted apart. Eventually she moved with her family to Alabama, and I saw her maybe a couple of times after that, when she came back to school to visit, and in college years when I was invited to a party with several friends from school and acted perfectly disgracefully but didn’t actually collapse.
10. Today Thea has a fine husband and a daughter approaching adulthood and still draws and makes designs using the gifts that were in evidence when we were young. Occasionally we see each other on Facebook and wave.
11. Memories of friends throughout life reinforce my appreciation and gratitude. What can I do today to project that rather than regret?

1. God
2. Discoveries
3. Meeting people
4. Cherry blossoms
5. Musical children
6. Young people asking questions which lead to more questions
7.The new and the familiar
8.

“We must risk delight.” – Jack Gilbert, “A Brief for the Defense”

1. God
2. Calla
3. The exquisiteness of budding trees
4. Several warm days in succession
5. Shakespeare
6. A spade to call a spade and with which to turn over the garden
7. Enduring and returning herbs: sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, chives, mint
8. Cassie in her home office, with Peabody as secretary

1. God
2. Syncopation
3. Other kinds of clusters
4. Little buds
5. Surprise chords
6. Sound sleep
7. Sudden wakefulness
8. Time in a field
9. Range and depth

1. God
2. Able to focus and complete a work project
3. Accepting the finished product as enough
4. Receptive colleagues
5. After the rain
6. Excited dog
7. Companionable cats
8. Songs of Beethoven

1. God
2. The very bird
3. Poems of Jorie Graham
4. Slight green tint on the tree branches
5. The soprano’s echoing voice
6. Watching the men scrape the shingles off of the roof of Oliver’s garage and seeing the slats laid bare.
7. Meeting you

1. God
2. Great explanation of happiness
3. Shades of purple
4. Thoughtful words
5. Echoing soprano
6.Stitches

1. God
2. Magnolias in bloom
3. Not to mention forsythia
4. Balloons and balloons
5. Snow going away like dew drops
6. National Poetry Month (every day is poetry day)
7. Dragonflies
8. Stitches
9. Arrangements

1. God
2. Family
3. Magnolia tree in bloom
4. which blooms like memory
5. basket of delight
6. daylight approaching
7. clouds breaking
8. kind greetings
9. Cheryl for hosting me
10. songs gliding