1. God
2. Gratitude in waves
3. Or like flames rising up in the body and mind be the flames
4. Thinking of Thea who was a friend when I needed her
5. Cassie singing “I’m old fashioned but I don’t mind it”
6. A suggestion reasonably well received
7. Power outage at work perhaps a missed opportunity to appreciate being out of my comfort zone
8. A little girl saying to me sing songs you know
9.What happened years ago may as well have been yesterday
10. Or not
1. God
2. Realizing when I’m happy
3. Thinking of Susana – thank you for being my friend, then and now
4. Self-compassion
5. Small favors
6. and large ones
7. Like everything in this life
8. Christa communicates it beautifully in word and image
1. God
2. It might as well be spring
3. Good speakers
4. Impressions of Susana
5. Visiting Maurice
6. Maurice’s orchid which hadn’t bloomed for six years, he said, flourishing
7. My mother and father
8. Working with Debbie
9. Finding a book Cassie would enjoy
10. Grains
1. God
2. A record of Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane which Hannah gave me. Hadn’t heard it before and enjoyed it on a long car ride.
3. We were talking
4. New shoes from Cassie, appreciate her thoughtfulness
5. Mothers loving their children
6. More than just one bite at the apple
7. Reading
8. Hats
9. Signs
10. Sounds
1. God
2. Open to new things
3. Not needing an answer (yet ;)
4. The woman who took her child outside and froze soap bubbles as an experiment and took pictures of them as they shattered
5. Jessica’s blessings jar
6. A slow cooker
7. Slowly cooked garlic surrounding chicken
8. Smells of food cooking that fill the house
9. Meeting of the tree branches in numberless directions and dimensions against the evening sky
10. Hums
1. God
2. Children
3. That dreams aren’t real
4. Can pursue some dreams
5. flowers in winter
6. A conversation with Hannah and David about friendship
7. rising temperatures
8. A stranger’s smile
9. Visibility
10. Invisibility
1. God
2. Helen found the right scriptural verse
3. Just to listen
4. The snowplow man and his companion with the shovel
5. giving them coffee
6. snow day!
7. Reading Katrina’s thoughts on the labyrinth and enoughness and gratitude
8.
“One cannot make bargains for blisses
Or catch them like fishes in nets
And sometimes the things that life misses
Help more than the things that it gets.”
from “Nobility,” by Alice Cary, as quoted in Nicholson Baker, The Anthologist
1. God
2. Folks exercising caution in the snow
3. Beauty of snow when there is no particular place to go
4. Wind
5. Booksellers
6.Almonds, salted or unsalted
7. Energy within that forms voice, greeting and a smile
8. Pussycats even when they are bored
9. Sing songs
“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.” Albert Schweitzer (as quoted in some cat calendar) (he didn’t limit it to just these, of course)
1. God
2. Blessings and happiness for a new calendar year to you and those you love
3. 365 – count’em
4. And/or just 1
5. Just dessert
6. A new scarf for Hannah
7. A frozen waterfall
8. Laughing silly
9. Any minute now
“I was hoping to find a crack in the pavement where my ailanthus of a poem could take root.” Nicholson Baker, the Anthologist
1. God
2. Observing so many good wishes and good thoughts as a new year approaches
3. A phone call with Susana that left me relaxed and grateful
4. A doctor with thoroughness and a sense of humor
5. Duct tape
6. Chloe and Andrew at the courthouse
7. Glass
8. Delighted by this picture via Christine (Susana said something similar when we were talking)
“I woke up thinking a very pleasant thought. There is lots left in the world to read.” Nicholson Baker, The Anthologist
9.
10.