More Thankful

November Thankfulness Posts Continued...

Day 23

I am Thankful for light in the darkness...

for walking along and thinking 'It's getting dark' 

and then suddenly an array of sparkling, glowing lights 

springing to life around and above me. 

For the magic of the moment. For the message it sends me.

I am Thankful for the friends and family members who have stood beside me 

when I have found myself in darkness, 

and for those who light up my life with their faith and joy and encouragement 

on days when they know that I am struggling. 

They do not 'hide their light under a bushel', 

but let it stream brightly and proudly out into a needy world. 

They inspire me. They uplift me. They light the flame of my own hope...

On Saturday, I saw a film called 'The Christmas Candle', 

one with a message of faith and miracles and hope - and light. 

And then I saw lights begin to sparkle around me 

as the sun set in the West and darkness crept in from the East. 

It was a timely message for me, 

to never forget that sometimes we need a friend to be a candle for us to see hope by. 

And sometimes, WE are the candle that others need to see shining so brightly.

And you know what?
I'm gonna' shine!

________________________________

Day 24


I am Thankful for sunsets...
 
Actually, I am in love with the color of light 
from two hours before sunset until the sun sinks in the West. 
Generations of artists have referred to it as 'the Golden Hour', 
and for as long as I can remember, 
I have been enchanted by the warm amber liquid light of a late afternoon and evening.

Over the years, I have taken so many photographs of that light, and of sunsets... 
 like the ones shown above.
Try as I might, I can't capture the energy of the sun, or the power of the light. 
I've shot beaches, rivers, roadways, pathways, fields, flowers, trees, farms, windmills, barns, birds, 
and more bathed in that light. 
My lens has never managed to capture the essence better than my eye and my memory have.

There are things I want to do in this light in my lifetime:
 
I want to have a picnic on the beach and dance in the waves as the sun sizzles into the sea. 
I want to dance in a long dress at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco under a sunset sky. 
I want to have an elegant dinner in a vineyard in Napa or Healdsburg (or maybe Temecula). 
I want to watch the sunset from the deck of an ocean liner, 
and from the top of the Eiffel Tower, and from the turret of an Irish Castle. 
I want to have a photograph of my children and their families taken on a beach or a mountaintop in this light.
 I want to figure out how to paint a landscape 
with clouds lit up by the sunset with gold shimmering at their edges. 
I want to paint a room [in a home that I hope to someday have] that gold color. 
I want someone special to tell me that he loves me in that light. 

And someday, when the time comes, I want people to say goodbye to me 
during that hour of the day when the world is bathed in the glorious and regal late afternoon light....

As I write this, it is that time of day... 
the light pours from the West and glances into my office window, 
filling the room with a golden glow. 
It warms me, it makes me happy, and it reminds me that 
the seasons and rhythms of the world and of life repeat, and cycle, and renew themselves.

Sunsets are not the end... 
they are a glorious transition, the applause Nature offers for a day well spent. 
And I am grateful.
___________________________

Day 25

I am Thankful that one month from today, 
I will be sitting in a room in my daughter's house near Seattle
with my four wonderful adult offspring, their amazing spouses, 
and my absolutely adorable grandchildren - 

ALL IN ONE ROOM for the FIRST TIME EVER! 

I can't even TELL you how Thankful I am!!!

I am so excited, I may not sleep at all until then.....
___________________________________

 Day 26


I am Thankful for learning to let go....
 
For letting go of pain, of hurt, of excuses, of pride, of ego, of plans, 
of the need for control, of the 'need to know', of old emotional baggage - 
of all kinds of things that have weighed me down in the past 
and impeded my ability to go forward in life. 

Letting go of all of those things - and more 
(like actual STUFF that filled rooms and garages and barns and storage units) - 
has opened my mind, my heart, and my arms 
to embrace life and love and joy, here and now and in the future. 
To be open to what may come. 

And for that lesson, I am extremely Thankful...