In the Here: Five Things Fall 2023, Liz posted about taking a pause. But today is Thankful Thursday, so there will be a list.

1. I am thankful for my grandson’s second birthday today. Sullivan is energetic and full of mischief, as only two-year-olds can be. He is well on his way to giving his daddy a run for his money! And he loves Oreo cookies!

2. I am thankful for autumn days, cooler weather, bluer skies, and colorful leaves.

3. I am thankful for “restarts.” It is so easy to put things aside when “life” happens. I started sketching about twelve years ago after deciding that I would not let a comment made to me when I was an impressionable eight or nine years old keep me from doing something I wanted to do. With the encouragement of the art teacher in the school where I taught English, I picked up a sketchbook and some graphite pencils and began. Yesterday, I bought a new sketchbook, new pencils, some charcoal sticks, and oil pastels. I watched YouTube videos. Then I created.

4. I am thankful for my family. It is almost a cliche, but I am thankful for the people around me. I lost my father eight years ago, but I still have my mother. She is as much a friend to me as a parent and always has been. I suppose that’s because I grew up in a very rural area without nearby neighbors. We went places, worked in the garden, and played board games at night. We shared books, bowls of popcorn, chocolate (Three Muskateer bars split four ways) with Coco-Cola in the afternoon, and afternoon “soaps” (or “stories,” as my grandmother called them).

5. Given the situation in the Middle East with Israel and Palestine, I am thankful that I live in a place that is safe from war. Yes, I know there is violence in our world and in America. We are not completely safe from terrorism, murder, domestic abuse, and other crimes. Still, we are not under a threat of constant attack and we do not live in fear of having our homes bombed or our families being cut down in the streets by soldiers. I am in prayer for Israel–and for the Palestinians–that one day, there will be peace between them.

Psychologists say that keeping a gratitude journal improves our lives. Sometimes, it is too easy to see only the negative things around us. I have a tendency to “live under a rock” and “bury my head in the sand.” I laugh sometimes that I should have been born an ostrich (I don’t know whether they actually bury their heads in the sand or not, but “they” say they do!). However, when all the news seems to be doom and gloom, thinking about the blessings does raise my spirits.