Ten Things of Thankful

As always there is much be thankful for, and I am grateful for this weekly opportunity to share a few of those things that have come into my mind. Kristi of Thankful Me hosts the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop and opens the link at 1:00 a.m. Friday MT and closes the link the following Tuesday at 11:55 p.m. MT. 

To find the links to other bloggers at Ten Things of Thankful just click the link above. It is always interesting to read the variety of things that have made people feel thankful each week. You no doubt are mulling over your own list in your head. There is no limit on how many bloggers can join this blog hop. The more, the merrier. Consider yourself invited to participate.

Daylight savings time

Although, I don’t relish seemingly losing an hour of sleep when we set our clocks ahead, I do like having more daylight hours when I am awake. (I wasn’t so fond of it when our children were young and we were ready to call it a day, but they didn’t want to come inside when they could still be playing with the neighbor kids during the remaining daylight hours.)

Family similarities

Long before my parents met, their parents celebrated a birthday on March 5. My dad’s dad was born on March 5 and my mom’s mom was born on March 5 a few years later. 

I bought a little Precious Thoughts Birthday Book, Copyright 1929 many years ago, probably at a garage sale. For every day of the year, there is a quotation and opposite the quotation are four spaces to write the names of friends who celebrated their birthday on that day.

“The eyes are of little use if the mind be blind.” Arabic

(The quotation from the book by March 5)

One of our relatives and one of our neighbors were released from the hospitals they were in this past week after fairly short stays, and both are on the road to recovery.

Covered parking structures are especially appreciated when the weather isn’t pleasant.

Serendipitous occurrences

This week I read a talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, one of the 12 apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The talk is titled The Ministry of Reconciliation. What was amazing to me was what happened that evening when I decided to watch a TED talk. It was an interesting talk, but it was the TED talk that came on after the first one that had a similar theme as Elder Holland’s message. I had not selected this second TED talk, meaning I did not purposely press the button on the remote control. The talk, Say your truths and seek them in others, by Elizabeth Lesser, had a message about reconciliation which came about in her own life in an unusual way. 

The things we can learn, or seek to understand , or wonder about when we read a book, article or verse multiple times

The many ways one can visit the past and gain understanding of not only the past but how those things may have in some way impacted the present time 

An unexpected phone call from a friend

Photos of children which seem to capture the utter joy that shines from their eyes

A friend posted a photo of her little girl this week that captured exactly what I am saying here. Smiles are contagious. Sharing a smile can be a gift to someone. Sometimes we are the giver and sometimes the receiver.

All people smile in the same language. (Anon.)

The color orange

Many years ago my mother-in-law told me that her favorite color was orange, and at that time one could see a lot of that color in the clothes being worn and in household decor. (Guess what decade that might have been.) I must admit, orange wasn’t a color that I appreciated that much then. I have grown to appreciate the color more now as I see it displayed so boldly in nature, not only in the fall, but in the springtime too.

Orange in Spring

New branches, the color of Creamsicle orange, reach skyward as on tiptoe from the last year’s growth on the bushes in the blueberry fields, while orange breasted robins poke their beaks in the wet soil, similar in color to that of a dirty basketball. Spring emerges, but not without reminders of the previous season which still proclaims it might pop in for another appearance. Although there are an abundance of pastel colors associated with spring, orange boldly leads us to them. ©Patricia E. Brockett