This week I have been feeling such gratitude for small things in our own back yard. They happen all the time, but when I pay close attention, and soak them in, I feel so blessed and full of grace.
“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”
― Meister Eckhart
I Feel Gratitude for…
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Turtle sightings up by the house and turtle tracks in the grass. (What are turtle tracks you ask? The wide trails left by the low slow journey of a turtle crossing the lawn. The turtle flattens the grass as it slowly meanders and leaves turtle trails to show it’s path. I think the turtles are looking for a good place to lay eggs.)
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An owl hooting in the willow tree—hoo, hoo, hoo.
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The sound of children’s laughter and sight of children running and playing from yard to yard in our neighborhood.
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The sweet, sweet scent of linden trees in bloom.
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A family of wood duck ducklings I caught a glimpse of tonight; darting to and fro, the tiny fuzzy swimmers rapidly cross the pond and are quickly out of sight.
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The feeling of warm sunlight on my skin, a comfy porch swing to swing in, and the soft night breeze on my skin when I stand out on the deck soaking in the sunset.
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Layers of lush greens everywhere I look.
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Black raspberry plants blooming profusely and blueberry plants setting on berries. July is going to be a delicious month of berries.
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Cardinals singing their distinct songs high in the trees and flying like red rockets from tree to tree.
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Wild phlox in bloom, green ferns growing lush and tall, hostas spreading their textured green leaves.
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Perfect dandelion puffy seed heads in the park next to our house.
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Lilies of the valley in bloom wafting their heavenly scent in the air.
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My new old-fashioned rose in bloom, with perfect single pink rose flowers that smell like wild roses.
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Peonies almost ready to bloom, their buds swelling and showing more color each day.
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Picking and eating my first summer salads from my container garden—lettuce, kale, flat leaf parsley, curly parsley, and dill!
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My first dragonfly and hummingbird sightings of the year.
Gratitude is a precursor to joy I think. So I try to focus on noticing small blessings that I am grateful for each day. It has become a virtuous cycle, the more I practice gratitude, the more I feel joy, so the more I practice gratitude.
“I have learned over a period of time to be almost unconsciously grateful–as a child is–for a sunny day, blue water, flowers in a vase, a tree turning red. I have learned to be glad at dawn and when the sky is dark. Only children and a few spiritually evolved people are born to feel gratitude as naturally as they breathe, without even thinking. Most of us come to it step by painful step, to discover that gratitude is a form of acceptance.”
― Faith Baldwin, Many Windows, Seasons of the Heart
What are you grateful for? Take a moment to notice the small things in your life that bring joy and grace to your life.
May you walk in beauty.
First garden salad of the year
Perfect Delicacy and Symmetry of a Dandelion
Black Raspberries in bloom
My first crop of blueberries
A profusion of greens
More green
Lily of the valley
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