Small and Wonderful things . . .

"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny?...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard

A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best.

So far, so good. Nobody in my family has been touched by the virus that I know of. One had to be tested, but thankfully the tests were negative. I count this as a great blessing. As time goes on I know the chances of this will get slimmer and slimmer. For now I am very grateful that we are all safe and all healthy.

Good sons. My oldest son has been working hard to help me with that despicable page which is stealing my content from the food blog. Its not been sorted yet, but I am hoping that it will be soon. I guess these things take time. I also got a package yesterday from Amazon and inside it was a tripod for my camera! And a note saying Happy Birthday, I love you. And my other son Doug facetimed me this weekend also and we got to chat for a while, and his boys said Happy Birthday to me. I so appreciate these two sons of mine who go out of the way to include me in their lives. Who love and respect both me and their father despite our many imperfections. That is as it should be.

Our Eileen, rain or shine, good or bad, whetever . . . . she contacts me every single day on messenger. I Love that I am a part of her every day. I love that I mean something to her. I love that she loves me too. I am so grateful for this friendship we have. We make each other laugh. We don't always agree on things, but that's okay. We pray for each other. We love each other. That's all any mother can ask for is that her children are safe, happy and that there is love.

I am making a book for her at the present. It has menus in it and recipes, grocery lists, etc. I hope to get it posted to her very soon this week. I hope that it will help them to manage their grocery shopping a bit better so that they don't run out of food before shopping day like she and her husband have been which is another wonderful thing . . . not the running out of food, but, the other week when it happened her older brother was able to buy her husband and her lunch at Tim Horton's from afar! I was so surprised you could do that, and so grateful for a son who cares about his sister enough to do that for her.

Good films. We watched this yesterday and it was wonderful. The music really took me back in time and it was really interesting to hear what the artists themselves had to say from their perspective of that era of music. It was good to see Tom Petty, but sad at the same time. We thoroughly enjoyed this.

I am grateful to have surrounded myself with kind people. Kindness can never be overrated. It is one of the greatest qualities a person can have in themselves. Being kind. It does not come natural to some people admittedly, but when practiced daily and regularly it becomes a part of who you are. It is hardest to be kind to those who are not, but with practice that can be done also.

Church at home. For the first months of the lockdown we pretty much made up our own services, but now with things easing a bit and church starting up again (in a very limited and restricted way) we are still able to attend by watching our church services via a Zoom connection. It is not ideal, but it is something. I am very grateful for modern technology which helps us to feel connected.

Turning 65 was not as hard as I thought it would be. At one time I could never have envisioned myself being 65, and here I am. I am grateful for that as it is an age many never get to see. I am grateful for all the cards and messages I received, for all the love, the flowers, etc. They were all very much appreciated. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I am more than grateful for the childhood and upbringing that I had. It was a kinder simpler time I think. The conveniences of today did not exist in many cases, but it was better in many ways. I suppose most people feel that way about their childhoods.

A well balanced life. I have enough of all I need and lack for nothing. I am so very blessed in a multitude of ways. Not everything is perfect, but then there are lessons always to be learnt in the imperfections and they give us something to hope for. How dull would life be had we nothing to hope for, or if all our wishes were granted as soon as we had them.