Ten Things of Thankful

As I have considered the events of this week, my eyes turned to the scripture at the top of my blog banner. In the past as I have read Ecclesiastes 3 and have thought of the various phrases, in my mind the commas represented a period of time, time to catch one’s breath, or heal, or time to grasp the magnitude of an event, etc. I thought as the time being in weeks, months, or even years in some instances.

Lately I am seeing more clearing that the commas are more like a gasp that leads me to question my emotional flexibility where one is able to express happiness and really feel it when someone is having one their happiest moments ever, but fifteen minutes later be mourning with someone over the loss of their loved one from COVID-19. Is that what it means to be able to live in the moment? Perhaps. 

So as I share this post of Ten Things of Thankful, I hope that you will understand that these are just moments remembered. Thanks, Kristi of Thankful Me for hosting the Ten Things of Thankful Blog Hop and for fellow co-hosts.

1. Blue skies with big fluffy white clouds to break up the week otherwise filled with skies resembling the kind that winter brings

Blue sky dotted with white cumulous-like clouds

2. Phone calls made and received that bring laughter about humorous situations as well as those calls that bring a deeper understanding of what others might be suffering

3. The attempts of people from all walks of life to reach out to help in whatever way they can to help

4. The huge outpouring of volunteers who lined up to get packets of materials to sew masks for the hospital

5. Comfort food

6. Exercising by dancing by myself to some music reminiscent of some that was played when I was in high school all the while fixing dinner one night (sorry no photos here - HaHa)

7. The return of the resident lizards

An adult fence lizard (if only it could do a little weeding)

8. The return of half the herd of deer who had been missing for a week, perhaps “sheltering in place”

9. Music that brings back memories of concerts in which one of our daughters participated 

10. A Zoom conference arranged by our son so we could have some face-to-face time with him and his sisters 

11. Vic for being here with me 

I realize he doesn’t have much choice in the matter considering that we need to stay home except for shopping for essential items (groceries and prescriptions) but I am thankful he is here.

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Six Sentence Stories - Safety

As I link up to Six Sentence Stories - Safety, a blog hop hosted by Denise of Girlie on the Edge's Blog, I hope that this finds each of you safe and well, a hope I have for all those in the world during this turbulent time when one doesn't know where COVID-19 is going to strike next.

Snuggling beneath the heavy woolen quilt made by her grandmother from old woolen clothing with parts too worn to wear was like being nestled in her arms, though she was long gone.

Angst began to leave as her breathing slowed and synced to the rhythm of the soft music enveloping the room.

Fear had been replaced by calmness making it possible for her to feel what the poets call tranquility.

Evening sounds such as distant chirping crickets or the soft hooting of an owl perched in an oak tree reassures earth’s inhabitants of the ebb and flow of days and nights and the necessity of such.

The tenets of her religion were like tentacles wrapped around her soul which brought a feeling of spiritual safety even when outlying worldly and physical conditions tried its best to release her.

Yesteryears’ sorrows faced and understood through the lenses of experience and the wisdom that arises helped her to be able to face the future and feel more sure of who she truly is.

Six Sentence Stories - Question

Although I am a little late linking up, this story needs to be shared. Some questions just linger longer than others. This post is being linked to the blog hop Six Sentence Stories - Question hosted by Denise of Girlie on the Edge's Blog. 

He had told her about the dry heat on the other side of the mountains where he had spent all his life until he went away to college, but he could tell from her flushed cheeks that it might take her a while to adapt. 

Even walking under the sidewalk awnings which shielded the goods in the shop windows and the potential customers from the direct rays of the sun wasn’t enough to cool his fiancé down. 

With not a hint of a breeze in the air and the temperature soaring above 100 degrees, he quickened his steps and guided her into the soda shop where they found an empty table directly under the old paddle board ceiling fan stirring the air just enough to give her an inkling of a breeze.

As they waited for the waitress to come take their order, he nudged her arm, smiled and nodded at a little boy about five or six who had just walked through the door with his younger sister and were now standing in front of the high counter.

When the waitress peaked over the counter and asked her young customers how she could help them, the boy’s response, “Can we get a drink of water?” was met with “Of course!” as she winked at the Mom pushing a stroller toward them.

Now almost sixty years later, the couple reminisced that day in the soda shop and she told him again that it was one of those moments when she knew he would be a good father to the children they would someday have.

Ten Things of Thankful

One can hardly keep abreast of all the latest announcements concerning COVID-19 because they are being updated so frequently. As for myself, I have to limit my listening and watching in order to maintain a degree of normality in my life, but even at that I feel I owe it to myself and my family to be acutely aware of what is going on. 

Today as I thought about my week I realized that there are still things for which I am thankful, in spite of it all. I'm linking my post to the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop hosted by Kristi of Thankful Me.

1. Flowers blooming

2. Being able to do a little weeding, but doing it after warming up with some exercise so as not to put my muscles into shock after so little of that type of exertion

3. Having some basic food on hand in order to make simple meals of beans and rice or a pot of stew, dishes that will last more than one meal

4. Being able to complete the simple 2020 census online

5. Drive-up pharmacies where I don't have to go inside the store and possibly be inadvertently exposed to a carrier of COVID-19

6. For Vic and I both feeling well

7. Old papers which I had saved such as one I had on a bulletin board in our dining room when our children were young

8. Space within our home and the space that living in the country allows (I can only imagine how difficult it must for families to shelter in place in small living quarters and maintain a distance of six feet away from one another

9. Online greeting cards (A friend sent me one today in an email, just because.)

10. For all those who have jobs that place them among the public and those who are sick, often jeopardizing their own health in the process and possibly their own families should they become ill 

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Ten Things of Thankful

The "thankfuls" still exist even though there is much out there trying to drag away hope and any sense of joy. Do a little searching of your surroundings, your heart and your mind, and things will begin to surface. Soon you will find some things that will bring a smile to your face. Write them down and share them at the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop hosted by Kristi of Thankful Me. That's what I am going to do right now. Hope to see you there.

1. Spring is in the air.

On a sunny day as I was driving home on our country road I came upon bushy-tailed gray squirrel in my lane of the road. He obviously had other things on his mind than the fact my car had come to a complete stop right behind him. I was waiting for him to get out of the way, but since he had no intention of disrupting what was probably part of his intention to attract a lady friend, I started to drive forward slowly. Only then did he become aware of my presence and move off the road. 

Deer enjoying the spring-like weather

2. Friday the 13th snowflakes that didn't stick

The beauty of early morning snowfall the next morning

3. Relaxing meditation music at bedtime

4. Discovering a bit of history

I didn’t know until this week that there is a butte in central Oregon named after a settlement of my husband’s ancestors near where they homesteaded at the beginning of the last century. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are not places or things named after some of your ancestors too. Another thankful is being able to discover so much family history with my husband!

5. Corn

In this case, it isn’t the kind you eat. I was beginning to think that maybe I was in need of some kind of bunion surgery mostly because a foot doctor once asked me if my big toes caused me any pain. They didn’t, but a couple of months ago I began experiencing some pain in one of the toes. Then I thought the pain was due to how my shoes were fitting. Funny how oblivious I was to the real cause of the pain. This week as I rubbed the side of that big toe I discovered a little corn which I promptly removed, and gone was the pain, and no need for surgery!

6. All the people trying their best to handle the swarms of people rushing to the stores to get any anticipated supplies for fear things will not be available due to any number of reasons following the increasing numbers of people being diagnosed with COVID-19.

7. The marker finally arrived and has been placed on the mausoleum where my mother is buried.

8. I hope that those who have been working day and night without the supplies they need to treat those who have gotten sick with the coronavirus know how much their efforts are appreciated.

9. Chronicling America

When I attended RootsTech last month I learned about this site and how it is another site to search old newspapers, and that it is free! This week I had an opportunity to use it to help someone with their research. 

Chronicling America « Library of Congresschroniclingamerica.loc.gov

10. I am thankful that even though there are fearful things happening that seem beyond our control, that it is possible to feel at peace in the midst of it.

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Ten Things of Thankful

Moving the clocks ahead by one hour  did get me up sooner this morning, however I need new spark plugs in this body to get me linking my TToT a little sooner. Here are some of the thoughts and memories that resonated with me this week. I am linking my post to the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop hosted by Kristi of Thankful Me. At the bottom of this page you can see the links to those who are co-hosts.

1. The home project is completed and now we feel much safer navigating the walkway.

New railing

2. The weather was nice on the days the workers were here, so they were able to do any sawing that needed to done outside the house instead of inside.

3. It has been fun working with Vic on a family history project. He is doing the hard work of cleaning up old photos to post on a private FaceBook page for family members. My involvement has been more in the way of providing information from sources I have added to our family trees online at family history sites. An example of this  would be, "Where were they living in 1924?"

4. This week we watched an old DVD Vic made of a family reunion we attended years ago. There is nothing like watching family members who are no longer on this earth and being able to hear them speaking, smiling, and laughing via a DVD.

5. I love the splash of color provided by the forsythia that is now in bloom.

Forsythia in bloom

6. Although it was a tossup as to what the weather was going to provide from day to day, or even hour to hour this week, there were some gorgeous sunsets on some of those days.

7. Being able to share almost instantaneously with my brother something my mother had written about a special occasion in my brother's life not only made me feel happy, but brightened his day too.

8. The Ten Things of Thankful blog hop has helped me to focus on blessings in my life, not only those mentioned here but also those unexpressed here.

9. In this hurried world in which we live, I am thankful for time to do what brings me joy and the for the joy that comes from helping others.

10. I am thankful for times of stillness.

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Ten Things of Thankful

What a fantastic week away, but now I am back and able to link my post to the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop hosted by Kristi of Thankful Me. I'm looking forward to reading what the rest of the bloggers shared. I'm sure their comments are going to remind me of other things for which I feel much gratitude, but didn't rise to the top of the list this week. We probably have all felt that, "Oh yeah. . . that too," moment as we have read the top 10 of others.

1. A large stuffed alpaca that a granddaughter gave me because she just knew I would love it , and I do! 

It was waiting for me in the room where I stayed at my daughter’s house one night before our RootsTech adventure.

A stuffed alpaca greeting me

2. After a week of walking to and from classes at RootsTech I racked up probably the most steps I’ve ever had for a week. WooHoo!

3. Being able to meet some people at RootsTech who are distantly related to me

Thanks to a feature on the FamilyTree app and the RootsTech app, I was able to see a list of other attendees who might be related to me. A quick text was all that was needed to arrange a time to meet. (Note: The FamilyTree app works in settings where others in the room have the FamilyTree app and are logged in. Click the link to learn more.)

4. History shared through photos, recordings, written stories, memories

I learned so much about different ways to approach these tasks from the presenters in the classes and felt inspired by the words of the keynote speakers. There are so many different kinds of family history activities and they can involve people of every age, interest, and skill level. It would be great to find a slide we may have when Kristi and I were in this place for the first time and show a comparison. We were way younger.🙂

Did you have an ancestor that
did faux marble painting on pine
columns like these in the Salt
Lake Tabernacle? 

5. That the snowstorm waited until the day after RootsTech ended so I didn’t have traipse through slippery conditions from the hotel to the Salt Palace Convention Center

6. The feel of coming home, of being home and being with your other half again and celebrating by going to a restaurant that has been in the area since 1974, and we just went there for the very first time!
It is unbelievable that we could have missed this treasure all these years. We will be going there again when we want to eat Italian food.

7. Beautiful wild plum blossoms and daffodils in bloom that the deer do not eat

Wild plum tree in bloom

The deer do not eat these daffodils

8. The railing is going up!

This is a good thing. Our family will be less likely to worry about where we are walking. 

The beginnings of a railing

9. We switched to a phone service that uses fiber optic lines.

10. That our son’s non-vacation trip to another country was cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreaks in the country

Although our children are grown and have been for many years, a parent can’t help but be a little concerned when one of their children may be in harm's way. 

Hope you have a great week!

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