Here we go. This horrible year, 2020, I am thankful for…
…being able to feel thankful. (Will that become the new meaning of “2020 hindsight”?)
…a friend who sent me the link to the podcast, “A Way With Words,” where I learned, just in time, of the word “respair,” which means to have hope again. Seriously!!!! Yes.
…flowers.
…mushrooms taking the place of flowers when flowers are not available. (Could there be a lesson here?)
Beautiful local veggies also filling that flower-role, and way tastier.
…Zoom (can I get an Amen?).
Beauty close to home.
Thanksgiving dinner made of leftovers, and no pie, because–the Mate’s birthday cake is the queen of all!
Togetherness in any form, even masked. Health. Democracy. Music. Things I will never, ever, ever take for granted again.
As always, I would love to hear some of the things floating to the top of your list! Still standing? Let’s give thanks.
Wing's World 
THANKS FOR THE PHOTOS…I LOVE SEEING THEM…HOPE ALL IS WELL FOR YOU AND YOURS! fondly, Ann
Can’t wait to see you on Zoom soon!
Very nice, thank you.
Danny G
Thanks, Danny! Long time no see!
I do like your photos — wonderful. Not feeling really grateful or in a holiday mood. I’m not being cynical or bitter either, since that would mean having (naive) optimism or expectations subverted. What spiritual food I get, I’m grateful for, like online seminars from the poet David Whyte. He is truly wonderful. Three Sundays each month in the last few months, he’s offered online seminars on topics like resilience and how to cultivate an invitational mind. Really, really great stuff — highly recommend (these are available on his website). He reminded me recently of (IMO) one of the greatest poems in any language, Der Panther (The Panther) from Rilke. How apt it is in this time of covid, since it’s all about confinement.
The Panther
His vision, from the constantly passing bars,
has grown so weary that it cannot hold
anything else. It seems to him there are
a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world.
As he paces in cramped circles, over and over,
the movement of his powerful soft strides
is like a ritual dance around a center
in which a mighty will stands paralyzed.
Only at times, the curtain of the pupils
lifts, quietly–. An image enters in,
rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles,
plunges into the heart and is gone.
Rainer Maria Rilke translated by Stephen Mitchell
Ooh, that gave me chills. Also makes me want to get my hands on some Rilke. I do admire what I know of Whyte, which is entirely through his interviews with Krista Tippett on the podcast “On Being.” (Also highly recommend that if you don’t know it.) But I hadn’t thought to go to his website. Perfect accompaniment for today’s sewing project–thank you!
I’m grateful for spending time with like-minded friends, even though we don’t hug and are careful to keep our distance. Also grateful for being in Florida for the winter so that we can be outdoors with said friends! Grateful that we’re making it through this difficult year, that we have hope for restoring decency to our country, that we can still find joy in the beauty of nature and the simple pleasures of life.
And that cake you made…Wow!!!
Feels weird to feel grateful for COVID, right? And yet it has brought its gifts. That said…we will all be dancing in the streets when we can finally show it the door for good (like a certain orange man I could name)! Love to both of y’all…