Ten Things of Thankful

Another week has passed. The weeks just seem to keep going faster and faster the older I get. Is that true for everyone I wonder? There is probably a scientific explanation for this, but I think I'll just let you ponder that one while I write my post for the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop. Our administrator, Josie Two Shoes, is probably wishing I'd get on the stick and get my post written sooner than later. Be sure to click the link to read the other bloggers' posts.  There are lots of things and situations for which we are grateful, and it really does help to write them down and share them with others.

1. Yearly physicals. There was a time when that didn't seem so important, but again, as I've gotten older, I've come to realize that it isn't something to skip. 

2. My primary care doctor, who has been the best doctor ever for me, is moving out of state. I've been dreading the day when she would retire or move her practice. She has used both a conventional medical approach and an integrative medicine approach with me. It isn't good for me that she is moving, BUT I will still have access to her integrative medicine services via phone, Skype, or email if I choose to do so. She will have an office where she will be moving and just do consulting in the field of integrative medicine. The good thing is that another MD in the clinic I go to will take over my doctor's patients for conventional medical needs, so I don't have to try to find another doctor who takes new patients on medicare. When I had to do that for my mother-in-law quite a few years ago when she moved from one city to another, it proved to be quite a task.

3. Places and people to see and dates with my husband that bring a break in the routine. One day this week we drove to the Portland Zoo. A nice thing happened when we were searching for a place to park. A couple had a two day passes to the zoo and gave them to us because they no longer had a need for them. We drove through the various parking lots, and were not able to find a single parking spot! We resigned ourselves to the fact that we were not going to be able to take any photos at the zoo that day, so we found a couple that gladly accepted our "free passes." Now we just need to find another day when it isn't going to be raining that is a day that is free from appointments, AND we will be there when gates open! A nice visit and conversation with some friends in another city made up for the disappointment we felt at not being able to see the animals at the zoo.

4. Discovery. Sometimes seeing something unexpected is exciting, like seeing vetch with white blossoms instead of the usual purple blossoms. I was walking among some of the weeds on our property and spotted this unusual vetch. Neither one of us had ever seen this kind of vetch, yet the very next day when my husband was at a national wildlife refuge in the area, he spotted some there! What are the changes of that? There is probably a word that describes that kind of a conundrum, but I don't know what it is.

Vetch with while blossoms

5. Anticipation. I love anticipation for good things, but not so much for dreaded things. We have some wild blackberries that are flowering. I can almost taste those berries that will ripen a little later this summer. Yum!

Wild Himalayan Blackberry blossom

6. Knowledge. I'm wishing the little Baird's shrew that made an appearance in one of the bathrooms this week could tell me how he (we will pretend he was a male) got in there. He apparently didn't find any insects to eat (that is their diet and the little bit of knowledge I learned about shrews), because he appeared to be barely alive. I picked him up with a tissue and took him outside and placed him among some leaves on a shaded hillside. A few hours later he was gone, so hopefully he found a more suitable residence.

Baird's shrew

7. A Pollyanna nature. Several times recently, my husband has commented that I always am trying to see the good side of situations. (Just so that you know this has been a work in progress for me, because as people closest to me know, there have been many times, when worry was all mixed together with the Pollyanna side of me, and sometimes worry took over.) As I was considering his comments to me, I remembered a book that I received when I was about 10. Perhaps I wasn't a Pollyanna then and it was given to me to help guide my thinking.  I really enjoyed this book written by Eleanor H. Porter that was first  published in 1913.  Later as a teenager I read The Power of Positive Thinking by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, first published in 1952. That book also had a great impact on me. A very short scripture in The Book of Mormon hit home with me too."And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness." (The Second Book of Nephi, chapter 5, verse 27) Are you a Pollyanna, a worrier, or a mixture of both?

8. Audio books. I just discovered LibriVox, a free public domain audio books site. It has Pollyanna! Do you listen to audio books?

9. Decluttering. A friend has been decluttering her house using a really easy plan. I decided that I can do that! Each day of the month indicates how many things to toss, recycle, give away, or I suppose sell. It is easiest to begin with the first day of the month and work your way through the month. If you find yourself liking this plan, start over again at the beginning of the next month. 

10. Family, faith, and freedom. So many people are separated from their family members, and long to be with them. There are people who hold on to that faith that they someday will be reunited with their family members, because they believe the All Mighty will hear and answer their prayers. Many people are escaping the lands which have been dear to them in the hopes of living in a land where there is freedom from war and terror, from abuse, and where they can work and care for their families, and where there is freedom of religion. I am thankful for my family, my faith, and my freedom.