Thankful Me

  A small snowflake ornament made of clear melted beads hangs on a Christmas tree The rhythm of time passing should not surprise me--after all, that is our experience here on earth--and yet I find myself constantly amazed at how another week/month/year has come and gone. In a blink of an eye, we are now in December and the Christmas season. I love Christmas!  1. I'm thankful for decorations. The tree is up, lights are hung, nativities adorn the house. Stockings are hung in anticipation of little ones visiting. Someone asked me this week what my tree looks like. I'm a sentimental tree decorator. I didn't even realize until not that long ago that some people have themes for their trees that are anything other than "a hodge-podge of ornaments made and collected over the years, each with a history that brings memories flooding back." At this point in my life, I have more ornaments than tree space, so not every ornament goes up each year. I always find room for the sma...

  A frozen stream sits between two banks of snow I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving! We had fewer family members come than originally expected, but even though we missed those that couldn't make it, we enjoyed time with those that could. And as being thankful is not just for those times when everything is smooth sailing, but also (and maybe even more especially) when life throws a curve ball, I can easily come up with a Ten Things of Thankful list this week: 1. I am thankful for family, both near and far. 2. I am thankful for technology that allows us to stay in touch, quickly and easily. The Pony Express used to be the gold standard for fast communication, taking letters from east coast to west coast in 10 days. Can you imagine writing out news, and not receiving a reply of acknowledgment for 20 days? Now we have talk, text, and video calls which allow us to keep in touch instantaneously. 3. I am thankful for games. Thanks to photos inserted into texts, I could see my sister was ...

  BYU's Lavell Edwards football stadium prior to the game, with the Wasatch Mountains behind More than one person asked me today, "What are you doing with all your time now?" Ah, the question of all mid-life crises! Still puttering through life, hoping I'm steering in the right direction. While some people have one passion that commands all their time and energy, others swap depth for breadth, and enjoy a little of this and a little of that. I'm more of the latter (although when I'm doing family history research I might be confused for the former.) This past week has definitely been of the little of this and a little of that variety. Monday, John and I went and got our bivalent covid boosters. I'm thankful for vaccines (1) and for living in a country where vaccines are readily available (2). I'm not limiting my thanks to only covid vaccines, but others as well.  (Often, it takes me longer than I think it should to compose a post, and this is one of tho...

  The sun shines on a golden mountainside, while ominous dark clouds threaten above For the first time in forever (sorry the song is now stuck in your mind!), my phone and computer are cooperating, so I am going to use lots of photos in my post. I'm thankful (1) that photo transfer isn't a problem today. Look at that photo above! The play of light on the mountain in contrast to the very dark clouds is beautiful. Another example of contrast is seen in the photo below, but this time it is the white of the snowy Mt. Timpanogos and the wispy white clouds against the blue of the sky.  I'm thankful (2) for the beauty of the earth .  Snow-covered Mt Timpanogos  Though I spent a lot of time indoors this week (because baby it's cold outside ), I did go on a hike with John. First we hiked up a mountain (not Mt. Timpanogos), and then we hiked down to the river . We didn't pray there (and it really is a creek, not a river), but I loved hearing the rushing water and seeing the ...

  Ready for hiking: feet in boots with crampons, hiking poles in snow As I hiked with John on Saturday morning, up the canyon where snow blanketed the trees and the quietness was interrupted only by the crunch of our boots on the ice and the rushing sound of the creek, I remembered Robert Frost's poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," and I knew I had a theme for this week's Ten Things of Thankful post. (Bonus thankful that the poem is now in public domain!)  STOPPING BY WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING W HOSE  woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises...

  A look out my back door. Snow is falling. The leaves on the aspen trees are turning yellow, and the sumac leaves are red.  Until yesterday, the weather for the week was gorgeous. Highs in the mid-70's and beautiful blue skies provided a lovely contrast to the changing colors of the trees. As I'm writing this, on Sunday afternoon, a light snow is falling. It's mesmerizing to watch from inside my warm house. Even though the seasons changed so abruptly, we made the most of the week, and I'm thankful: 1. For another year around the sun. John found a 4-leaf clover for me, all of my kids called or saw me in person. I'm definitely a lucky woman.  a four-leaf clover that John found 2. For the hiking trails behind our home. The video below shows part of one of our hikes: a creek in the canyon.  3. For the changing fall leaves. Red-orange leaves on trees on the side of the road 4. For a visit to BYU's Museum of Art . It had been a while since we had been there. If you a...

  The fountains at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas I missed the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop last week. John and I went to Las Vegas to see a couple of shows (Blue Man Group and America's Got Talent), came home for one day, then spur-of-the-moment decided to go to California to visit with the grandchildren for several days. We got back home Thursday night, and now of course the Las Vegas trip seems so distant and I've just got grandchildren on the brain (and spending time with them counts as all ten items on my thankful list), but I will try to catch you up on what I would have said last week had I gotten a post written. We were in Las Vegas from Tuesday, October 6 to Thursday, October 8. Early on in the vacation, I was mentally composing a post in my head, and thought I would mention how we were able to visit Las Vegas on a budget. We stayed in the Luxor Hotel, after checking their calendar and realizing that the nightly charge was ridiculously affordable mid-week. (AND the...

  A tiny lesser goldfinch sits on a dandelion stalk in the grass It's October! The temperatures are cooler, and this week I found myself taking time to notice little things around me, like the cute lesser goldfinch in the photo above. Just that one photo prompts several things I am thankful for, so let's just dive into the Ten Things of Thankful list! 1. I'm thankful for birds that visit my yard. 2. I'm thankful for a guidebook to help me identify the birds. 3. In the entry for "Lesser Goldfinch," the guidebook reads: "Lesser Goldfinches feed on dandelion seeds and raise their young on soft unripe seeds. They adjust the time and place of their breeding to the presence of this staple food." I guess that means I am thankful for dandelions, because without their presence in my yard, I probably would not see that cute goldfinch.  (Next slide, please.) Lavell Edwards stadium fills prior to the BYU/USU football game, as the sun sets amid dark clouds 4. I...

A lone bison grazes in a meadow in front of the erupting Castle geyser in Yellowstone While Labor Day weekend traditionally sees families enjoying summer's last hurrah, John and I decided to spend the week of the autumn equinox camping at Yellowstone National Park. It's been quite a few years since we last camped in a tent, and even longer since we've camped in a tent during rainstorms. However, camping is easier with two adults than it is being outnumbered by children (fun though that is--seriously), and we both knew better than to touch the sides of the tent and invite the precipitation inside, so we managed to stay relatively dry. We also were happy to eat PB&J and leftover pasta salad for dinner while sitting securely in the van. Neither one of us drew on the fogged up windows nor breathed each other's air nor put an arm on the other's arm rest, so all in all, it was a boringly peaceful occasion. The rain didn't actually start until Wednesday afternoon, ...

  A collage of two photos: the one on the left is a sign from the Mad Greek Cafe that says, "Please do not grab the Mad Kitties." The one on the right is a photo of a black and white cat sleeping on a chair. Last weekend, John and I drove to California to visit the grandkids. Even though we've made that trip many, many times, there's always something new to see. This time, it was learning that the Mad Greek Cafe in Baker now has resident cats. I just had to take a photo. :-) I'm composing this while watching the BYU football game on TV. Hopefully the game will improve, but if not, at least I'll feel better after remembering what I am thankful for this week.  1. I'm thankful for finding paneer on a great sale at Costco. I don't think I'd ever purchased paneer before, but because it was so inexpensive, I bought it and found a recipe for saag paneer  that I think will go in the regular rotation. I modified the recipe slightly: I didn't use ghee, i...

A purple African violet  This week, I thought I'd run a quick errand to the local one-stop shopping place. The blinker on the car was out, so I headed to where the automotive lightbulbs should have been, only to find myself in the toy section. Sigh. Then it dawned on me that if I changed something up in my own house, I would feel a sense of joy and accomplishment. If a familiar store tries it, though, I'm none too happy. Strange. Perhaps I'm a bit of a control freak. :-) In any case, I'm going to focus on the changes (and some constants, too) that I'm thankful for this week: 1. I divided and repotted some of my African violets. I then had an abundance, and was able to share one with a neighbor whom I hadn't had a chance to really visit with before. We had a nice chat, and I'm glad we got to know each other a bit. 2. The weather is cooling down a bit. We've had a stretch of rather hot weather lately. Even though we've been in Utah for 5 years now, I s...

  The colorful old buildings above the creek in Ketchikan, Alaska Before July, I had never been to Alaska. Earlier this summer, John and I booked a cruise to go to Alaska in August. After we booked that cruise, we received an email from a different cruise line offering unbelievably low rates for a last-minute cruise to Alaska. As responsibly as two kids in a candy store, we decided to take as many cruises as we could, so we booked that July cruise, too, and took our son and his girlfriend along. Walking around Ketchikan, Alaska in July in the pouring rain really wiped me out--or so I thought, until I tested positive for covid the next day. Last week, John and I returned from the second, though first booked, Alaska cruise, and I can tell you that Ketchikan is much more enjoyable than the town formerly known to us as Caughtacovid.  I'm thankful: 1. We both remained healthy and well on this cruise.  John and I smiling in front of a waterfall in Tracy Arm Inlet 2. We live on ...