Tag Archives: gratitude
A wonderful thing
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” ― Voltaire The sixth anniversary of this blog passed recently, without mention by me or anyone else. The giddy hope that inspired a feeling of celebration on the first and second anniversaries gave way to reality, although I did recognize …
Each must be the last
“Each golden day was cherished to the full, for one had the feeling that each must be the last. Tomorrow it would be winter.” ― Elizabeth Enright A great many of us have experienced an unusually warm autumn so far, though it seems the cold weather is creeping in. Eager for cooler temperatures, having had …
A wayside sacrament
“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God’s handwriting – a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.” —Charles Kingsley Dear readers, I’m sitting here in the wee hours of …
The quintessential optimist
“The gardener is the quintessential optimist. Not only does he believe that the future will bear out the fruits of his efforts, he believes in the future.” – Joyce Carol Oates Maybe this quote explains why I love few activities as much as taking a walk in a beautiful garden setting. It’s hard to feel …
The thing that is left
“As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and …
Nourishment
“There is nourishment in books, art, history, philosophies—in holiness and in mirth. It is in honest hands-on labor…And it is in the green world—among people, and animals, and trees for that matter, if one genuinely cares about trees.” —Mary Oliver Do you pay as much attention to your psychological nourishment as you do to …
Inverse correlation
“There are things money can’t buy. I don’t think standard of living equates with cost of living beyond a certain point. Good housing, good health, good food, good transport. There’s a point you start getting inverse correlation between wealth and quality of life…I have everything I need to have, and I don’t need any more …
The month of expectation
“March is the Month of Expectation.The things we do not know – …” —Emily Dickinson In springtime, we rejoice in what we do know, or have reason to expect: the reflowering of blooming trees and annuals, the lengthening of daylight, the gradual warming and the sheer delight of those first mild, sunny days. Until …
Slow walking
“…as a pilgrim, travel is made holy in its slowness. I see things that neither the passengers of the train nor the drivers of the automobiles see. I feel things that they will never feel. I have time to ponder, imagine, daydream. I tire. I thirst. In my slow walking, I find me.” ― Kevin …
Mostly standing still
Are my boots old? Is my coat torn? Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me keep my mind on what matters, which is my work, which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished. — Mary Oliver Bereavement, grief and aging are slicing through much of what once seemed inviolable …
Rejoice in spring
“I rejoice in the spring, as though no spring ever had been.” —Theodore Roethke Spring was later to arrive this year than I can ever remember. Or did it only seem that way because I was so eager for it? A bit of photographic research gave me the picture above, which I took on March …
Do something
“A good way to rid oneself of a sense of discomfort is to do something. That uneasy, dissatisfied feeling is actual force vibrating out of order; it may be turned to practical account by giving proper expression to its creative character.” —William Morris William Morris certainly earned the right to give us this advice. He …
Wonderful silence
“Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn? Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven’t the answer to a question you’ve been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause of a room full …
A failure of seeing
“If you think something is ugly, look harder. Ugliness is just a failure of seeing.” ― Matt Haig I bought the lot on which my current home was built because it had trees on three sides. I take a lot of fabulous sunrise photos out the east-facing windows of my home, toward the Potomac River. …
My state of general wonder
“Not until years later would I realize that my state of general wonder throughout this process, peppered though it was with fear and doubt, would help preserve my sanity through the events that followed.” — Hilary Tindle Sometimes I will hear or read a sentence that rings so true in my own experience that I …
Just before you
“The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the …
Sealed inside
“Don’t be ashamed to weep; ’tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us.” Brian Jacques …
An enduring savor
“If I summon up those memories that have left me with an enduring savor, if I draw up the balance sheet of the hours in my life that have truly counted, surely I find only those that no wealth could have procured me.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Most likely, today will seem like just another …
Something you have to learn
“Nobody is born smiling – being happy in this world is something you have to learn.” — Ashleigh Brilliant How true! And as with all kinds of education, some people seem naturally better at learning happiness than others. A few are exceptionally gifted in this way, and others are what we might call “learning disabled” when …
The whole world, 2017
“If the whole world were put into one scale, and my mother in the other, the whole world would kick the beam.” — Henry Bickersteth, Lord Langdale (2024 update: this is the 2017 revision of a post that will had appeared here twice before. I hope the text is as timeless as my enduring gratitude for …
Two parents who love
“If you have two parents who love you? You have won life’s Lotto.” — Augusten Burroughs As promised (or perhaps I should say threatened) I am posting something entirely new, though its theme has been found at this site again and again. I am approaching the seventh anniversary of my Mama’s death, so I decided …
How infinitely rich
“I think these difficult times have helped me to understand better than before how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes around worrying about are of no importance whatsoever.” — Isak Dinesen Perhaps the understanding Dinesen describes is one of the greatest gifts to come …
Much is taken, much abides
“Though much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” — …
Love at the board, 2016
Dear readers, this post from Thanksgiving last year still says it better than I could say it today. It’s a sort of visit from the Posts of Thanksgiving Past, to borrow a phrase from Dickens. At the time I wrote this, I honestly never expected that it would be our last Thanksgiving with Jeff. Despite the …
A luxury
“Today we enjoy a luxury kings and queens throughout history had to suffer without: water is available to us just by turning on a tap.” — Alexandra Stoddard I don’t stop to think about it often, but running water is among the blessings for which I’m most grateful. Imagine what it must be like to …
Defeat Despair 