#gratitude

Strangely Beautiful

I know many people who spend a great deal of time and money on their lawns and flower beds. I’ve never been so fortunate to have either tons of cash or talent in that area. Consequently, my partner and I have always had a “grow if you want to” sort of approach.

It works for us. We plant from time to time, but often end up with beautiful flowers in giant pots. We mow, but not as often as other people in our neighborhood. The wild look seems to suit us, and well, when our neighbors have killed their grass from too much mowing in hot weather, our lawn flourishes. Mostly. When it wants to.

As you can see in the pictures, we keep as many leaves as possible on the lawn and in the flower beds. It works for forests, right? No one rakes them. Past the big tree is a downward incline—much of our property is down the hill. We don’t do anything with that except occasionally get rid of the poison ivy or this nasty invasive vine that wants to have its way with our trees and bushes. But hill is lush and green, with lots of bunnies and squirrels and even foxes.

Okay, fine. It’s messy. Strange. Uneven. Wild. But gosh. It’s so beautiful.

Grateful.

This is the next-to-last week for my summer CSA. Every week my partner and I put on our masks and head to a local farm to pick up our share of fruits and vegetables. The farm also has a small farm stand, so also pick up other essentials, like local cheese, bread, eggs, beef (locally raised and processed), and chips—and as you can see in the back right of the picture, sometimes also apple fritters.

The farm stand requires masks and social distancing, and usually has only a handful of people anyway. This little local business has enabled us to always have fresh food during a period when we didn’t think we could because grocery shopping was too risky for us. I am grateful for them.

In this crazy, scary time, it’s hard to appreciate the things that aren’t so crazy. I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude, and reminding myself to consciously be grateful. I am ever so grateful for my partner. I’m grateful for my skilled and understanding doctor. I’m grateful for my employer, and the care it is taking to make sure we’re safe and enabling me to have money to pay my bills.

And I appreciative of my readers who have been on this writing journey with me. Cheyenne also sends his gratitude. Along with a proposition, of course.

What are you grateful for?

IMG_0259.jpg