One of my favorite places to hang out
Today as I sit on the swing on my deck I am contemplating small blessings. The fall weather has settled into a string of warm sunny days and cool nights. It feels like summer during the day yet cools to a fall-like feel in the evenings.
I’ve been feeling better than I have for several years, able to hike more and do more, able to eat without worrying about setting off my gut. But yesterday, something set off my gut again and I had a painful day after weeks of smooth sailing.
Shady spot to sit
This morning I’m feeling much better but once again face the task of carefully eating only well-cooked plain foods for awhile. On this beautiful day I’d like to be out in the woods somewhere hiking with my camera, but I plan to spend the day around the house taking it easy to give my system a chance to reboot. Small blessing.
This swing on the deck overlooking the trees and pond in our back yard is one of my favorite places to hang out, especially when I’m not feeling well but want to spend time outdoors in nature. Small blessing.
I’ve spent very little time on the swing this summer because I’ve been able to do more out in nature and around the house and back yard. Small blessing!
Agnes eyed the younger woman curiously, storing this information away. Then she turned back to the night sky and pushed up the sleeve of her sweater… “Pain is an overrated experience. It’s better to be happy.”
“I suppose so,” Rose said. “I have enough sense to know I’ve been lucky.” Which was true. Nothing awful had ever happened to her.
“Perhaps,” Agnes said. “Or perhaps you’re brave. It takes courage to be happy, you know—even when you keep moving. It takes guts to accept things as they really are and not blame life for being what it is.”
— Martha Woodruff, excerpt from Small Blessings
Last year half of our huge basswood tree that stood right outside our living room window crashed onto the deck during a storm. Part of a branch landed on the top railing of the swing, bending the railing and tearing a large hole in the canvas shade cover.
Tree on our deck last summer
But the swing still functions and now I have a window to the sky when I lie on the swing with my feet up, swinging and gazing at all of the other trees in our beautiful back yard. Small blessing.
Window to the Sky
Last night I started reading a fiction book called Small Blessings by Martha Woodroof, and today I picked it up again. What a sweet, gentle, and insightful book it is with a charmingly imperfect cast of characters.
The worst thing you can do in this life is turn away from it, my dear.
— Martha Woodruff, excerpt from Small Blessings
This book is a like a grace note that adds sweetness and goodness to life. To create something like that is worthwhile, I think. To add beauty, wisdom, kindness to the world is more than a small blessing. It’s a huge blessing to us all.
View from my swing
The sun is rising higher in the sky now, pouring through my window to the sky. There is a light breeze caressing my skin. Most of the trees around me are still looking green, though yellow leaves are beginning to show up and a few dried up brown leaves are scattered on the deck.
“We all are so deeply interconnected; we have no option but to love all. Be kind and do good for any one and that will be reflected. The ripples of the kind heart are the highest blessings of the Universe.”
― Amit Ray, Yoga and Vipassana: An Integrated Life Style
Life is good.
Turn towards it.
Accept things as they really are and notice small blessings.
They are here every day, all around us.
May you walk in beauty.
Panorama of woods at MN. Landscape Arboretum (taken with iPhone)
0 Comments