The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Oct 31st- A few of my favorite things...
~My mom coming home from the hospital 
~Looking down at the patterns the fallen leaves make
~Looking up at the brilliant red Japanese red maple and seeing the promise of spring's new buds

  

The Habit of Finding Beauty in Sorrow

Even in death there is beauty.

 Our death is not an end

 if we can live on in our children and the younger generation.

 For they are us, 

our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life. 

~Albert Einstein

 Let life be as beautiful as summer flowers

And death as beautiful as autumn leaves.

~Rabindranath Tagore

While I thought that I was learning how to live,

I have been learning how to die.

 ~Leonardo Da Vinci 

Death is beautiful when seen to be a law, 

and not an accident — 

It is as common as life. 

~Henry David Thoreau, 11 March 1842, letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson

" “O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

 

The sting of death is sin, 

and the power of sin is the law. 

But thanks be to God, 

who gives us the victory

through our Lord Jesus Christ."

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 

"Jesus said to her, 

“I am the resurrection and the life.  

Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live....""

John 11:25

Thank you Jesus 

for showing us 

that there is beauty in dying, 

and that death is not the end.

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Oct 30th- A few of my favorite things...
~Color reflected in a wet road
~Catching pool of sunshine over downtown...and being able to share it with the nurses
~Watching the clouds roll across Onondaga Lake in a dance of rain and sunshine

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Oct 29th- A few of my favorite things
~My mom's joy and appreciation for flowers her sister Nancy sent 
~A hot cup of Peach Blossom Oolong 
~And just sitting for a few minutes this evening

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Oct 28th- A few of my favorite things...
~Observing a pair of chickadees alighting on asters and goldenrod looking for seeds
~Being watched by a robin who landed on a fence (I think sometimes birds do like to turn the tables and people watch for their amusement)
~Listening to the rain pouring down hard on concrete

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Oct 27th- A few of my favorite things...
~Dunkin' Donuts coffee, one shot blueberry flavor, one shot mocha flavor, cream, and sugar
~Orange and Blue sky tonight at sunset in Orange (SU) Country 
~Syracuse lights twinkling through the barren trees along the lake shore

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Oct 26th- A few of my favorite things...
~Friends who helped fill a need for someone they don't even know
~Fall colors reflected in puddles
~Perogies with A1 Steak Sauce...yummmm!

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Oct 25th- A few of my favorite things...
~Finding unopened mushrooms that looked eggs along our walk to Old Lock 51 on the Old Erie Canal.
~Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (under the lock) This tunnel once carried water to raise and lower boats through the lock.
~Discovering that Pineapple Sage has a gorgeous red flower

Winslow's Musings: Rambling Thoughts of a Furby

Winslow thinks this is the only way... 

...one can be truly bored (board) at a playground.

...a 2x2, perhaps?...

...a  2x4?... 

(Winslow has no idea why these boards were here.)

Whether swinging,

climbing, 

or sliding... 

playgrounds rule!

Winslow approves of this post!

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Oct 24th- A few of my favorite things...
~A tea party with a magnet sculpture made by Gwyn
~A sky so brilliantly blue, viewed through a the branches of tree...like stained glass by the Creator
~A bold yellow leaf shining among the brown, sometimes being last is good 

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Oct 23rd- A few of my favorite things...
~Catching up with a friend this evening for 3hrs 
~Seeing a 6 point buck looking up from his midnight snack
~Having daughters who like to catch a glimpse of a train, no matter where we are...a good thing too, because their mom has been a train junkie since she was little...it's in our blood 

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The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Oct 22nd- A few of my favorite things...
~Fall bouquets to cheer up a gloomy day
~Hearing the rustling of leaves on our evening walk and discovering a shrew (who did not want to be discovered)
~Watching a colorful leaf take an evening ride down the creek

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favoirite Things

Oct 21st- A few of my favorite things...
~Seeing the sea gulls, cormorants, and herons on the dam in their usual fishing spots in spite of the rain
~Fog hanging over half-harvested fields waiting for farmers to return
~Watching Gwyn introduce Thea into the amazing world of magnets...the best learning is when you are able to teach it to others 

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The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Oct 20th- A few of my favorite things...
~Making apple pies with little helpers
~Fall leaves pressed and hanging in the window
~Watching Gwynnie take a magnetic rock (hematite) around the house and discover magnetic wonders for herself

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Oct 19th- A few of my favorite things...
~Eating lunch while watching the ducks and geese at Webster's Pond
~Watching a photographer trying to get pigeons to cooperate with the camera
~Watching the pumpkins numbers dwindle in the pumpkin patch

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Oct 18th- A few of my favorite things...
~Having a little sous chef to help me can the apple butter this morning
~Going for one last ice cream cone before the ice cream store closes for the season
~Watching the last of the leaves bravely hold on to the ash tree

The Habit of Purpose: Agriculture

“Anyone who has a garden,

park,

or orchard tree

has an opportunity

to ensure

that it offers protection,

brings beauty and

bears fruit for future generations.

In short, 

every one of us

 should aspire 

to be

a forester.” 

― Gabriel Hemery, 

The New Sylva: A Discourse of Forest and Orchard Trees for the Twenty-First Century