Haiku on a fall day

the silver sky shines
through the latticework of leaves
the rain has moved on

The Journey

I am thankful for the journey. I sometimes obsess about the peaks, the mountaintop experiences in life, wishing I could always be perfectly happy, perfectly healthy, perfectly...perfect. But the fact that I don't stay there, the fact that I dip into the valley and the desert sometimes, it just helps me to realize that I am moving, I am journeying onward...it means I am living. In a way I suppose the human spirit is like a shark...it must keep moving to live. And so as I journey though the valleys I look for the beauty -- there may not be astounding views and snow capped glory...but there is delicate deep green moss and sometimes there are even streams in the desert if you keep your eyes open. And soon enough I know I will come to another mountain to enjoy. Up, down, up, down -- life, all of it -- and I am thankful to be alive.

Loser

I'm thankful for Chinese food delivery and game night with Lindsay and Cole. And I'm proud of myself for learning a new game and for having a blast even though I lost miserably. Normally I am a very sore loser. Actually, normally I don't lose:) But it was quite freeing tonight to be so bad that I didn't have to be competitive so I could just be silly. Who knew losing could be liberating?

Keep Calm...

I'm happy to be home so I can keep up with my joy blog:) I'm thankful for a reminder to look for joy each day and the accountability to pass it on. Right now I am loving a poster I saw in a house in Connecticut that used to be a British poster in WWII -- It says "Keep Calm and Carry On." Yes! I will try:) It should be easy for me since I don't have to contend with daily air raids...quite a perspective giver.

Sunny Day

I'm thankful for a beautiful sunny day today and for the bright orange monarch butterflies that descended en masse along the river where the flowers grew wild and purple. I giggled at the gaggle of geese watching golfers at the country club, as they seemed to be commenting on every shot with their different degrees of honking. I clucked at some chickens in a little red barn built just for them and I also saw my very first cultivated bee hives today...which makes me thankful I didn't get stung! I am very grateful to still be migraine free and that Ryan is feeling better after an ill timed bout with the flu and I'm happy we were able to enjoy the sun before the rain comes again tomorrow.

Rain

I've always loved the rain...and I admit, I've truly missed it living in LA for over a decade now. There's something wonderfully indulgent about the rain -- how it makes you take shelter and relax, entices you to curl up, put on some fluffy socks and read that book you've been meaning to read or watch that DVD that's been sitting around for weeks. I'm thankful for the rain pouring down as I write in our little rental cabin in Westport. There is a funny old abandoned wooden boat at the top of the driveway with a tree growing out of it...I'm thinking that could be our ark if this rain doesn't let up. Ryan says it is raining dogs and dogs:) I like the rain and the symbolism of washing away the old, and the life giving force the water brings. When I was a kid I used to spend hours (no joke) tying to figure out how rain came from the sky...how those puffy clouds could hold it for only so long before it all came whooshing out seeming like something from nothing. I could see factories with angels who's sole purpose it was to form perfect little droplets and send them down a conveyor belt where the drops would roll off the edge and make their way to earth -- little pieces of heaven, making everything fresh and new. Everything except dogs -- nothing fresh about a rain soaked dog! I've often pondered why it is that wet dog can smell so bad and wet grass can smell so good...but I suppose that's one of life's great mysteries:) I feel the sickness and pain of the past month washing away and I am excited to see the new green buds of experience just waiting to bloom and grow.

Leaving L.A.

I am thankful for the chance to get away from the city for a week...I can't wait to breathe some clean air and let all the stress just melt away:)

Overcoming the Artist's Achilles' Heel

I'm thankful for this entry I read on today's writer's almanac:
On this day in 1852, 24-year-old Tolstoy (books by this author) wrote in his diary: "Went for a ride with the dogs, had a dull time, slept, killed a pheasant, considered the scheme of my novel, and began to write the same. Must make an effort to overcome indolence."
Haha! There's hope for me yet. If good old Leo could overcome his lazy tendencies, maybe I can too! Maybe I'll even learn Russian! And grow an awesome beard! Too far? Okay, I'll keep it at just writing an era defining great novel then:)

Fall TV

I'm thankful that new episodes of my favorite shows are back! They feel like old friends who went away for summer camp and now they have all kinds of hilarious stories to tell me:) I laughed with the HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER gang last night and tonight I got to giggle myself silly watching THE MIDDLE and especially MODERN FAMILY. And it was a bonus to get to see my hubby's cute face on COUGARTOWN tonight:)

Getting better

A whole week without a migraine -- a miracle, thank God!