1000 Gifts

#0025 – The wheels of my dreams, to fill the treads of my stalwart, but no longer capable Oldsmobile.

#0024 – Tei Fu oil – because there are mosquitoes…

#0023 – Sunflowers on stilts, a vertical miracle after their storm flattened adolescence.

#0022 – Promises

#0021 – Cotton buds, which remind me that “unique” can be different and wonderful. 🙂

#0020 – Hibiscus pollen dusting petals so fragile they can only survive one day of glory.

#0019 – Phlox, which are sweet enough to make me almost like the color periwinkle.

#0018 – Air conditioning!

#0017 – The caregivers who made it possible for my father-in-law to go back home again instead of being the central character in my second funeral of the week.

#0016 – The joy of being even one of several hundred who were touched by Norm’s life and gathered to celebrate and cry with his family – and the surprise of hearing Kermit the Frog singing Rainbow Connection between the homily and eulogy!

#0015 – The potential held in a rosebud

#0014 – Friends who call and sing Happy Birthday and make me laugh.

#0013 – Daughters who remember the day even from far away.

#0012 – Birthdays – live longer if you have lots of them, so each is a special blessing!

#0011 – Baby birds – with a special emphasis on the toddler version equipped with adult sized feet…

#0010 – Thunderstorms that wash muggy days and rinse them with crisp evenings.

#0009 – My Hearing – Halfway through the picking, an outdoor concert began several blocks away. I was terribly annoyed to have my twittering musicians drowned out.  But I think this 1000 gift project is already starting to mess with my brain in a good way, as moments later it hit me that there are many people who can’t be annoyed by loud, fresh air concerts, because they can’t hear anything at all.

#0008 – Bird Song – It was very quiet on our street tonight as I started picking berries, so the concert in the trees was very much in evidence. I realized this isn’t something I often hear without background noise.

#0007 – Black Raspberries! I went out to annoy the weeds and feed the mosquitoes tonight and noticed my very favorite berries in the whole world are ripening. I brought in a bowl full of plump berries and have been snacking on them all evening.

#0006 – Friends who bake awesome brownies and share! – Not only did I get a wonderful treat, but I don’t have to endure having an entire pan of brownies at my disposal. That makes it a double blessing indeed!

#0005 – Clouds – Within 15 minutes, the sky where one leg of the rainbow had stood was clearing and blue, and I realized for the first time that rainbows need clouds in order to show to their best glory. Then the skies cleared enough for a sunset to dance from west to east. From our home, we can’t really see the western sky very well, but the end of the storm made an incredible background for the palette splashed into the east by the retiring sun. I wondered if maybe we also need a few clouds for the best to show in us as well.

#0004 – Rainbows! I realized the weather was perfect tonight to breed rainbows so dashed outside to look. Not only was I rewarded with a swath of color splashed across the stormy skies, but it was a rare complete bow. I ran back into the house for my camera, but when I looked to the sky 60 seconds later, it was reduced to two partial arcs. I wish I’d waited and savored the moment while I had it, but perhaps that fleeting glance will live longer in my mind than if I’d had it long enough to lose the wonder of the moment.

#0003 – Fleecy surprises… When my Gotland fleece arrived, I thought it was tricolor with shades of brown and gray and a bit of white. When I pulled it from the muddy wash water, shining and delectably silky, it was the most stunning selection of grays and white that I’ve ever seen. It’s the most astonishing and wonderful transformation of raw fleece I’ve witnessed.

#0002 – After working up my planting beds tonight with the only tool I could find – a garden rake with a broken handle – while feeding the mosquitoes, I found my first strawberry of the season, fat, juicy, and sweet, and I forgot instantly how much my wimpy muscles were aching!

#0001 – God loves me – even when I don’t love myself or feel like anyone else does, for that matter!