Ten Things of Thankful

I'm keeping it simple this week here at Ten Things of Thankful. This weekly blog hop hosted by Kristi of Thankful Me gives the participants a chance to reflect on things for which they are thankful and write about them. That can be done as simply as listing them or, if desired, expounding on them in more detail. The most important thing to my way of thinking is the act of ruminating about those people, things, and experiences that are meaningful in our lives. There is value in both remembering and in sharing. 

I am linking my post to Ten Things of Thankful. To make it easy for readers to navigate to other posts the co-hosts besides myself are Clark, Dyanne, and Lisa. Those who post at TToT will show up at the bottom of my page as well as our host and the other co-hosts. Just click on the images and it will take you to their posts. 

1. Tree-lined paths, lanes and roads

For many years we had a painting in our home that was of a country road with trees on either side of the road. From the color of the leaves, the season was either late summer of early fall. Looking at the painting was very calming to me. 

Gravel lane lined with filbert, oak and fir trees

2. Hills
We live in a very diverse state as far as topography is concerned. I have grown to appreciate these differences, but having lived the majority of my youth on property that was hilly, that was my first love. Being able to live with hills surrounding us and yet drive on roads through flat farmlands almost daily is a delight to the eye.

Hilly rural area, with the furthest hill rising
higher than the two in the foreground

3. Orchards

The orderliness of orchards is something I appreciate. Being able to see examples of this in nature is especially appreciated when other aspects of life may feel out of control at times.

A view of an orchard of young walnut trees
 on a sunny day with billows of white clouds
in the blue sky overhead 

4. Blue sky

My favorite colors are blue or blue/green hues, so being able to look up at a big blue sky has a very tranquil effect on me.

5. Finding solutions to problems, and the encouragement of others in overcoming the challenge

People are not the only ones who have challenges. When I was taking some photos outside today, I heard some noises behind me. When I turned around, I saw the wild hen turkey and her two youngsters who are now no longer chicks, but nearing the jake and jenny stage of their lives. The hen was on top of a fence railing and promptly flew down to our neighbor's property. The youngsters got flustered and ended up still being on our side of the fence. One of them shortly discovered he could squeeze through one of the sections of wiring. The other one just couldn't seem to figure out what to do and scurried back and forth in front of the fence. The hen walked further away from the fence, while the sibling acted very concerned about the separation as shown by its actions (ruffling of feathers, repeatedly rushing toward the fence and then running away from the fence, and touching the beak of the sibling through the space in the wiring). Several times the one on our side tried to squeeze through one of spaces in the wiring, but would try to expand its wings which just made it impossible to go forward and then it had to back out. This scene went on for about 10 minutes, before the separated turkey was able to figure it out and be reunited. 

Turkey hen and her two youngsters
touching beaks through the fence

6. Natural soil aeration

The gophers seem to think it is all up to them to aerate the soil this summer. When a flicker was standing on one of the gopher mounds this week, I think a gopher may have snagged one of the bird's feet. The flicker appeared to be struggling to lift off from the ground, but finally took flight.

Gopher mounds (or natural soil aeration)

7. Fruit in season
This isn't a heavy crop year for the apples, but then again it is hard to say, since the deer are such frequent visitors to our trees.

Two apples on the tree that the deer
couldn't reach

8. Old trees
Does anyone else get attached to trees? I am going to miss this old tree. It is scheduled to be cut down next month because it is dying.  A few extremely old apple trees used to be on one of the neighboring properties. I loved seeing those old  trees in the different seasons of the year and was sad to see them taken out.

Trunk of old maple tree

9. Hospice services
As of this week my mom has started receiving hospice care in the nursing home where she lives and already I can see what a blessing this is for her to have their services in addition to the help of the nursing home staff. 

10. Memories
My mom's mother had red hair and was told she had some Irish ancestry. I remember my mom telling me that her mother loved the song Danny Boy. I hope you enjoy this rendition too.

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