Skip to main content

Ten Things of Thankful: Light in the Dark Edition

Photo: Trees covered in tiny Christmas lights frame the Salt Lake Temple
Ever since Daylight Savings Time ended for the year, darkness comes so early. The black sky provides a stark contrast to the Christmas lights that are appearing, though. In the daytime hours, the lights are hardly noticeable; the darkness is required to fully appreciate the beauty.

 1. I'm thankful for the darkness, so I can see the lights. John and I went to see Luminaria, a light display, on Monday night. It was magical. (You can click the link to read my post and see photos and video.)

 2. I'm thankful for the cold, so I can appreciate the warmth. The temperatures have dropped. Sweaters, coats, gloves, hats, and scarves keep me warm.

 3. I'm thankful for drought, so I can appreciate precipitation. The earth sighs as the rain soaks into her ground. The blanket of snow on the mountains promises water in the spring and summer.

 4. I'm thankful for injury, so I can appreciate health. (This one is a bit of a stretch--no pun intended, though you can go ahead and laugh--but there's nothing quite like a slow recovery from an injury to make me appreciate feeling 100%.) My treadmill walks have been increasing in both frequency and speed. I am optimistic that I will be able to start running again soon. 

 5. I'm thankful for clutter, so I can appreciate order. We cleared out the garage when we donated unneeded items. Every time I push the remote control and pull the car into the garage, I'm happy. 

 6. I'm thankful for a long to-do list, so I can appreciate more relaxing times.

 7. I'm thankful for the months without the constant stream of Christmas music, because it makes those familiar strains all the more enjoyable between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

8. Similarly, I'm thankful that the Christmas decorations sit in boxes for most of the year, because when they are unpacked, they are remembered, noticed, and enjoyed. 

 9. I'm thankful for change and new things because it keeps life interesting. Specifically, I'm thankful for guest post bloggers and giveaways that are helping me put some spark back into this blog. If you haven't entered the giveaway yet, be sure to do it! (And please follow the rules by leaving a comment on the blog post as well as filling out the Rafflecopter form.)

 10. As always, I'm thankful for John, who is a constant in my life. 

 What are you thankful for this week? Please consider linking up your own Ten Things of Thankful post, and reading and commenting on the other linked posts. I'm thankful for the TToT community! :-)


Comments

  1. messymimiDecember 1, 2018 at 4:10 AM

    A beautiful list, i agree it's so nice to be able to enjoy Christmas in its time and place. If we kept it going too long, it would lose the magic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiDecember 1, 2018 at 9:47 AM

      Thank you. I'm sure thankful for the Christmas season, though! :-)

      Delete
  2. KerryDecember 1, 2018 at 11:35 AM

    Some think Christmas music annoying, but I think how it is only a short time out of the year and I love it while it lasts. I can always change the channel if I need a break.

    :-)

    I like the approach you took with this post. I love that you mention darkness. I was thinking a lot about that recently. The lights against the darkness.

    Stepping into a warm house from the cold outside.

    When I have a day of less pain I am grateful.

    Lovely thoughts and, again, I adore how you always end these posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiDecember 1, 2018 at 4:12 PM

      I love Christmas music, too! I listen to it nearly constantly from the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas.

      Thanks for your kind comments. :-)

      Delete
  3. AnonymousDecember 2, 2018 at 3:35 PM

    Well this post serves one of the primary purposes (imo) of the TToT, to remind us of alternate perspectives. And, the cool thing (pun intended), about presenting perspectives is that they have an effect, whether we do anything or not. If I am aware of a person who.... likes the cold, that perspective becomes a part of my reality. I probably won't, on the basis of this post suddenly enjoy sub......freezing, 30s....80 degree weather. But my reality will be enhanced.
    now, Christmas music.. that's a horse of a different color all together.
    lol

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pat BDecember 6, 2018 at 11:55 PM

    I am so enjoying your blog posts, and of course this TToT post.
    Yesterday and today I put up a few Christmas decorations. I'm beginning to think a great Christmas activity would just be inviting guests to put up one of our decorations. Just kidding, but this world of mine is going at a slower pace.
    Hope you continue to make progress on your #4.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Conversations are so much nicer when more than one person does the talking. :-) Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Things of Thankful: Autumn Edition

It's autumn time, one of my favorite times of year.  I just couldn't leave this weekend as a one-post weekend.  
21 comments
Read more

Ten Things of Thankful: Last Two Weeks

  Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, as viewed from an overlook I apologize for not commenting on your blog posts this past week; John and I took a vacation to Yellowstone National Park, leaving behind our computers and, to a large extent, cell phone service. We escaped the outside world and just spent time in nature. Though we have friends near Yellowstone (who we love to visit) we made this trip just about us, so please forgive us if we were nearby and didn't stop by. The crowds were minimal (though we did mask up whenever we passed someone on the trails) and we spent our days hiking, taking photos, and watching geysers erupt. Today, we are back home and back to work, and, in the case of my computer, back to old shenanigans like not letting me import my photos. (I was able to add the above photo by using blogger on my phone, but that isn't my preferred method.) I want to write about Yellowstone and have photos I want to share, but will leave that for another...
10 comments
Read more

Monday Mentions: Equate Crutches

Have you ever needed crutches? I hadn't, until a week ago.  I'm pretty sure I strained a muscle while running a half-marathon.  (That sounds kind of cool, doesn't it? I'm not actually that cool; the last time I strained a muscle it was from carrying too many shopping bags at once.) In any case, I found myself in need of some crutches. I sent my husband to the store to get some. Photo: A pair of crutches leans against a wall  Not that crutches are all that complex, but because I hadn't used any before, I wondered if I could figure out how to adjust them to fit me properly. I shouldn't have worried. John came home from Walmart with their generic store brand of crutches, complete with instructions. First, I needed to take out a long bolt that went through the hand grip. Then I needed to find my height range, push down two metal pieces, and slide the crutches until the little metal pieces came up in the hole near my height range. (Having two people for this...
4 comments
Read more