37 years, 37 things

 
This marks my ninth year making a list on my birthday of some (the # equal to my trips around the sun) of the many things I am ever grateful for.  These are things I want more of in my life, things I say 'yes' to whole-heartedly, things that nourish me and fill me up in all the best ways.  This year, there will be 37 of them.

Generally, they are in no particular order.  I simply type things out as they come to mind.  Some big, some small.  Certainly there are repeats from year to year, but I make a point not to look back on previous lists until after I create the new one.  It's a good practice, this list-making, and one I highly recommend.  I always, always come away feeling so full of gratitude and immensely aware of the many ways in which my life is full and rich and beautiful.  And, consequently, how very much I desire to daily be aware of that fullness and joy because I recognize it as the miracle and luck that it is.  I am humbled, because I am well aware that life is not this way for many.  That for many, the struggles and hardships tip the scales significantly more than the simple joys and reasons to smile.

I am reminded to pause and savor the small things, as they are where I tend to find so very much of the goodness around me.  And so, here goes~ some of the things I'm grateful for:

1) night sounds- crickets, train whistles, a neighborhood screech owl
2) my close friends- for their time, energy, and love
3) my kind-hearted, compassionate, amazing girl- my love for her is so intense, and it makes me feel more vulnerable than anything else
4) our woodstove- the crackling, the warmth, the way it brings us all together
5) papa for collecting, hauling, splitting, and stacking all that wood.  and for countless other reasons
6) my cozy bed
7) our Ollie cat- for filling the void left behind after Ziggy, for choosing us, for loving unconditionally, and even for being so darn talkative
8) two jobs that I truly love, working for people whom I respect and enjoy being around
9) my mother's tenacity, strength, and, ultimately, her stubbornness- which seems to be the thing that pulled her through an intense and life-threatening illness nearly four years ago.  I was terrified that I was losing her and that my daughter wouldn't remember her grandmother, and I didn't know how to approach the hole I thought that would leave in my heart.  I'm so grateful for that stubbornness.
10) sharp pencils.  as in fresh-from-the-box sharp.
11) the way photography helps me capture the little moments.  I am so reminiscent- and photos transport me so quickly, so viscerally, back in time to moments I'd like to hold onto.
12) tenderness and honesty
13) acorns, bones, feathers, pinecones, stones, shells........ if I am a collector of anything, it's of those amazing little bits of nature.
14) books.  real, hold-them-in-your-hands books that smell and look and feel like books.
15) bees
16) music! for instance, the Rising Appalachia album Wider Circles (also Van Morrison, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young, Eddie Vedder, the Grateful Dead, Madeleine Peyroux, Gillian Welch, Natalie Merchant, Otis Redding, Ben Harper, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Rhiannon Giddens, Mumford & Sons, and so many more)
17) salty ocean air (the best medicine, I think), and that I got to revel in it twice this year
18) the lakes, streams, and rivers that help fill that void (and my soul) the rest of the year
19) our happy little backyard pseudo-suburban-homestead, for all the obvious reasons (the time, space, inclination, and skill set to raise a lot of our own produce, herbs, flowers, etc) and also for the good therapy it provides (getting my hands in the soil is a close second to that salty ocean air, medicine-wise
20) berries
21) strong black tea with coconut milk and honey~ my daily morning ritual
22) my slippers
23) avocados, sweet potatoes, sardines, greens, and all things coconut- for keeping me nourished through these many months of autoimmune diet experimentation
24) finding an amazing massage therapist (who also happens to be a good friend)
25) friends and neighbors generously sharing their apples, and the cider, sauce, and apple rings that are the product of the picking of many baskets full of the lovely red orbs
26) homeschooling our daughter
27) my strong, capable, healthy body
28) my family
29) this amazingly beautiful place I call home
30) the experience of watching the eclipse in the path of totality with my loves (wow!)
31) birds- we get such joy from them.  I adore their lilting morning songs.
32) the soft, golden autumn light dancing around the house in the early and late hours of the day
33) seasons- the subtle shift from one to the next as the torch is passed, the way I'm ready for the new one when it arrives, the gifts (sometimes obvious, sometimes not) that each brings
34) the gift of today- which began with yoga and tea, then breakfast made for me and a hike with friends to a beautiful waterfall.  there were messages from dear friends, a good day at work, and now the day is coming to an end with the Van Morrison Pandora station (which is currently reminding me how much I like Creedence), an amazing dinner cooked by my love, a game of memory with my girl (with wine), the witnessing of another chrysalis being formed by a monarch caterpillar, some garden time, a sweet visit with dear friends, and loads of love.
35) my little swap community- for the connection and the good times, the chances to learn from and with one another and to support and encourage one another, and for the opportunity to write about the swaps for my favorite magazine
36) hot water
37) horses- for the way they smell and the way they nuzzle and the charmingly vulnerable way their big fat lower lips droop when they are super relaxed, and mostly, for the way one in particular is working his way into my girl's heart and filling her with confidence and strength.




well, there we go.

and now (because of that reminiscing and all that I love to do), some photos from the last year:

birthday campout 2016~ good friends gathering for food and fun at the farm where I work

waking to the morning mist on another fall campout

cosmos beauty

the sweet boy who has my girl's heart

golden autumn light

Day of the Dead remembrance gathering

autumn

winter

spring

snuggles with books

kitchen window

Edisto Beach goodness

poppy beauty

late spring garden

boat time with friends

sweet backyard honey 

taproot fun

indigo, indigo!

in her happy place with her cat, her doll, and a huge pile of audiobooks

peony beauty

my loves, chatting at LEAF

our trip to Beaufort, SC~ just mama and papa

backyard bounty

at the farm

more backyard goodies

late summer trip to Adirondacks

solar eclipse!!!!

a fall collection

I'm the bridge between these two

this year's birthday campout~ dinner prep

and breakfast, too

farm-fresh decor

easy birthday morning start with yoga and tea. (with cat and slippers very nearby)

birthday hike

Catawba Falls

the monarchs are loving the tithonia!

memory, wine, and the paper while dinner cooks

what a year.
xo