Grateful for vicarious enjoyment of friends' travels

People I know are traveling this week, to places I will never see, except in the photos they have shared. I'm grateful they are being well cared for, that they are having a wonderful time, and that I can enjoy the images they are sharing with me. Hooray for technology!

News story (with photos) about the sandstorm that hit Riyadh just before they got there

The hotel in Riyadh where they are staying

Travelogue: Chicago to Amsterdam to Rotterdam, to Paris

Winter Sun, Getting Things Done

I have amazing miracles in my kitchen! One is this gorgeous "Christmas" cactus that John bought for me last year. It's been hanging over the sink, pretty much gasping for water most of the time. John took it down a couple of times and soaked it in the sink ... and recently noticed BUDS! Now it's in bloom. Look how beautiful!



The afternoon sun was so warm and delicious when I got home (early). I love sunshine ... even winter sunshine. And I love light and shadows. And I love that I get to capture them to enjoy long after their short, ephemeral presence is over.



Last night, I spent two hours applying for a Federal PLUS Loan for Parents. I'm grateful I overcame the challenges in the website and Sallie Mae personnel, to complete the process (including the correction of the amount we're applying for!). I'm grateful for the one person out of four I spoke to who seemed to be a thinking human being instead of a living answering machine. And I'm grateful it's done!

Mack greeted me this afternoon very insistently. I couldn't stay home and cuddle him (that's him in the picture with the computer), but he persisted ... climbing onto the kitchen table and into my arms despite my protests. I snuggled a minute, and wondered out loud if he was trying to tell me something ... checked the food dishes downstairs and discovered they were completely empty. He's such a clever kitty!

Finally, I'm grateful for the progress on the work necessary to make Summer Assembly 2009 happen. We're very close to being on target with our project dates, we've got a GREAT leader, and although there's still plenty of work ahead, it's nice to feel confident instead of frantic. :-)

Just a still shot, this time

DSCF1021
Originally uploaded by Gerry Bergtrom

Trying to figure out the zoom capabilities of my new camera ... Gerry caught me again ... and helped me see the "zoom" dial at the top -- which I had entirely missed before!

Anything that moves!

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Originally uploaded by Gerry Bergtrom

Again, in love with my new camera and its video capabilities, Gerry caught this photo of me recording a belly dancing performance at the Duluth sidewalk sale street fair.

Oh! And ...

I'm also VERY grateful to my darling husband for getting me a birthday gift I will continue to use for years and years and years, which has already brought me untold joy and delight, and which made possible almost every picture in the previous post: a new camera with MEGA pixels, and GIGAbytes of USB storage. Thanks, also, to Shannon and Josh and Amy for camera cases, and extra battery! Wow! My cup runneth over! It's just what I've been "techno-lusting" after, and more!

Light and Shadows, and the ability to see

I almost walked right through this scene, hurrying to my car at the end of the day, without doing more than noticing -- but not really pausing to admire -- the artistic quality that had naturally occurred here.

The sun was shining, the air was crisp, and I'd been wishing for several days that I'd brought my camera to photograph the yellow and "black" tulips planted on the UWM campus, no doubt to echo the black and gold campus colors.

I didn't expect a masterpiece in grays.

I'm so grateful I had the camera with me, that I took the moments to snap these photos, and the delight I'm feeling at how they turned out.

Mostly, I'm grateful for whatever it is inside me that notices things like this, and urges me to pause, to truly take it in, and to experience it with delight, wonder and awe.

Reclaiming Morning

I woke up before 5 this morning. I laid in bed, wide awake, until 5:05, debating with myself.

I could lay there and hope to fall asleep again for about an hour, but why? There was Mack, comfortably resting on my legs ... I hated to disturb him ... he'd been SO good all night -- hadn't awakened me once! -- but he'd get over it if I got out of bed.

Getting up early would also mean rustling around and potentially disturbing John's last hour of sleep ... but it didn't sound as if he was sleeping right now, anyway.

My body wanted to move, my mind was completely rested ... and I've been wanting to MOVE more, use my body, feel better. WHY was I arguing with myself!?!?

I got up. I gathered my walking shoes, and enough clothes to keep me warm in the 50-something temperature of early morning.

I got dressed and gathered my digital camera, key to the house, reading glasses (so I could see what I was taking pictures of) and cell phone, just in case.

Then I headed out the door.

Wow. I'm so glad I did.

By the time I hit the pavement, it was light out. There was just the right amount of chill in the air to make fast-walking feel really good.

There were rain puddles, with the sky and trees reflected in them.

There were neighbors walking their dogs, people leaving their homes for work already, and the fresh clean smell of the newly-washed day.

A song wove through my thoughts, "Morning has broken, like the first morning ... Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird ...."


I'm grateful for a great start to a day filled with energy and joy.






... for knowing my neighborhood well enough and long enough to have very clear memories of the person who planted the two maple trees in this front yard -- these are Ian's trees, and he's come a long way from the precocious pre-teen he was when he nursed the seedlings from "weeds" to "trees" ...










... and I'm grateful that I acted on the urge to take an evening walk, as well ... there's something reassuring and homey about living in a neighborhood where it feels safe to walk alone after dark. I'm grateful for that luxury, too.



This is what grace and abundance are all about.