The herb garden waits for spring.
My friend and classmate Katie MacLennan writes a great blog called Polka Dot Soup. On it she writes a post some Mondays called “Multitude Monday.” She writes, “Mondays are about documenting the little (or big!) things in life that make me oh-so-happy. Let’s make Mondays a day to reflect on the goodies, and not the baddies.”
I also recently read Brené Brown’s book “Daring Greatly,” in which she writes, “The shudder of vulnerability that accompanies joy is an invitation to practice gratitude, to acknowledge how truly grateful we are for the person, the beauty, the connection, or simply the moment before us.”
Katie’s been doing it long enough that she’s up to over 700 things (doing 10 each time). Week before last, I posted my first ten, and last week I posted another ten. Here are the ten things right now that I’m thankful for:
21. The winter. I know, we’re all sick of it. I am too. But I walked on Sunday through the snowy woods and I am so grateful for the winter season and all it contains: quiet, retreat, reflection, exercise (shovelling, for one), contrast and texture, ice patterns, and the necessary balance to summer’s heat and growth.
22. Poets. None in particular, just that there are folks out there brave enough to dance with language, and challenge how we think words ‘should’ go together.
23. Tap water. I love a glass of tasty cool water straight from the tap so much! Especially after a walk. So refreshing.
24. The little things in love: when he downloads a movie for us to watch, when he takes his plate to the kitchen, when he thanks me for cooking, when he gives me a smile that’s just for me.
25. Hand-lettering: I put about seven hours in on the weekend, on a project I’m working on. It’s hard! I have a newfound respect for the masters of hand-lettering (like Mary Kate McDevitt).
26. Auto Mechanics. I have no idea how to replace my water pump, but I’m glad someone does, and that they will do it for me quickly and not charge me an arm and a leg. (I love the guys at Jed’s in Balls Creek!)
27. My friend Kate Oland’s gift to me last week of a vintage silver-plated business-card holder. Someone had given it to her years ago when she had her own design firm. Now she is no longer in the business, working instead as a librarian in Baddeck. So she “passed the torch” onto me. It’s a beautiful case and the fact that it came from a dear friend means it is even more beautiful.
28. Feminism. I’m reading “American Jezebel” at the moment, which is about a woman in the 1630’s in New England. It makes me look around at the freedom I enjoy and go, “Holy cats, I cannot imagine living without this freedom.” There is still much work to be done, for sure, towards true equality for women in the world. But it is also good to remember what has been accomplished already, and not take it for granted.
29. The longer daylight hours. Sometimes I feel as though I am a plant, drinking in the sun’s rays and turning towards windows involuntarily, needing that sunlight so much.
30. New music in my iTunes: lady bluegrass with flair by Sarah Jarosz. (Album is “Song Up In Her Head.”) I have been listening to it on repeat all weekend. Great music to work to! Here is a video of her playing and singing the title track.
