What I Am Grateful For Today

Cats

Dogs

Birds

Little furry creatures

Deer and bobcats

Twigs

Trees

Snow, ice, slush, even dirty yucky piles of frozen snow and slush—cold, glorious cold, shimmering with light

Full moons, slivers of moons, new moons

People who read my blog

Words, without which there would be no blog, no books, no writing, no speaking—In the beginning was the word

Computers that work, without which there would be no blogs, no internet, no moveon.org, probably no Obama, definitely no email

Clean laundry, order in the home, everything in its place and a place for everything

Christmas cards, holiday greetings, holiday videos, holiday songs, Christmas trees, Christmas ornaments—carefully unwrapping them, taking them from the box, hanging them on the tree, remembering who gave them to me when, and telling the stories of the ornaments to loved ones now, and remembering, remembering all that love

Miakara singing “Ave Maria”—so clear and pure and fearless

My Grandma Cecil’s house and every Christmas I ever spent with her, her cooking, the lake outside her window, the fire in the fireplace, the smell of pines, the vast expanse of lawn and pine trees and lake stretching out beyond the cedar-framed panes of her windows, walls of windows looking out upon woods, deer and squirrels coming to feed at her backdoor, my grandpa putting firewood on the fire and playing with his grandkids, laughing and joking with us and telling us stories about how he dropped a crop-duster right down in a tiny field—I miss her

All of my grandparents, parents, brothers, and sisters, who have given me such a rich life

Stacks of student essays to grade—they were thinking and feeling and writing, some extraordinarily well, and they were willing to turn their work over to me to evaluate for a grade—amazing!

Bears—they teach us how to hibernate—the heavy bear goes with me, as the poet says—I feel the bear in me curling up for my long winter’s nap—how does that square with starting a new year? Oh yes, settling in for the long haul

Time off to dream, to sleep, to write, to play

A quiet, peaceful, light-filled place to write

The peace, peace, peace of my morning meditations

Friends, lovely, warm, and loving friends

Let us all laugh and play today and sleep deeply tonight!

Between Christmas and New Year’s

The miraculous birth has happened, but the new year has not begun. We are in between, waiting for all to become clear. One friend of mine received news of cancer. He is waiting. Another friend reports that from her work with Body-Mind Centering, she is beginning to feel herself initiate movement from her center, her core, and let it radiate out to the periphery, instead of moving first from the periphery and dragging her core along. She is becoming connected and sensing the birth of a whole new way of being in the world. I am exhausted and a bit in shock at what is being born and seeking in all ways I can to hibernate, drawing everything in to conserve my energy for the new adventures I sense about to begin.

The minister on Christmas Day said our challenge is to settle in with the new life, the new birth, and to live, even knowing that this new life will too pass away, will pass through torture, dissolution, and death. To settle with the new and live. I like that.

Blessings to us all as we settle in for the new year and new life to come.