A Time Of Gratitude and Blessings...

"Gratitude can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
~o~ Melody Beattie ~o~

 

Tiny blind Penny sleeping on my lap
at the computer, snuggled into a soft
blanket. I have to sit sideways with 

my feet up so she has a lap to lie in,

and I do a good bit of typing these

days sideways and one-handed!

Dear Ones,

Today I am full to over-flowing with a sense of gratitude that goes so deep and wide throughout my life I feel I have almost an embarrassment of riches. The garden lush with flowers and butterflies too many to count. Roses coming into bloom again now that the weather is cooling off and the clematis starting to bloom. We are close to harvest time and fall planting and my woods in the back of the cottage are a beautiful canopy over the spaces that surround us, their green leaves still brilliant in the sun, and I, the dryad, the tree spirit at heart, hug the trees and laugh as I feel their hearts beating.

And then there are the little ones. Scarlet, my grey parrot, adopted in May, who came nearly naked after a lifetime of plucking, is beginning to leave the pin feathers just coming in alone and I cross my fingers that she will let them grow out. I buy lots of toys that she can shred and she spends her days out of her cage on the top playing, singing, and talking up a storm just 2 or 3' from this chair I'm sitting in. She brings me so much joy sometimes I just sit singing with her, smiling from ear to ear. How blessed I am to live amongst so many animals, the pugs, the parrots, and the wildlings outside.

All of the pugs are always near me, but wee tiny Penny sleeps in the crook of my arm with my arm wrapped around her and her little head on my shoulder or snuggled into my neck. I can feel her breathing softly, and if I have to get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night she quickly snuggles in as fast as she can when I crawl back into bed, burrowing her face into me. My 3 puggy boys are all attached to my body, above the covers (they have huge soft quilts that change when the sheets do that they snuggle into), but I feel their presence against my feet and legs. The nights I fall asleep on the couch my toes are usually buried in the three boys fur until one or two of them come up closer, next to Penny. Sometimes I can barely go to sleep I am so overcome with love.

Every simple meal is a feast, my humble cottage is a cozy home, "strangers" that I have met here on the internet have quickly become friends, some cherished and very dear with very deep and special relationships that are a gift to me, a solitary. Their companionship is treasured, and I still may be at peace here to meditate and pray, to write and weave, to dream and find peace as visions rise for my future that I work to live out. 

As the weather cools I am drawn back to my fiberwork which falls to the wayside in the heat of summer when the garden takes up so much time. I will continue to work on the freeform "Rainbow Serpent of the Dreamtime" that is already over 8' long, made entirely from handspun yarns, mostly my own, a contemplative act in front of a glowing fire. The weather will soon be cool enough for the first fire and I relish the wood burning, kindling gathered from my acre, firewood cut by an elderly minister now retired, who cuts fallen trees from his farm, and I gather the ashes, once cooled, to sprinkle around the garden. The cycle of life continues.

Last year, after the tree was adorned with blue lights, my favorite color Christmas lights, I was so taken with the simple tree that I didn't even put ornaments on it. I would sit at night with the fire glowing and the tree so beautiful, I simply couldn't spoil it with store bought ornaments. 

This year I am, right now in fact, starting to collect things in nature -- pine cones, soft small branches I will soak to soften, bend into shapes and perhaps crochet or leave plain, and I've thought to use strands and pieces of dyed wool instead of garland. I am very excited about this and while the pugs wander around our private enclosure I search the ground and low branches for possibilities. The abundance of Nature fills me with awe and seems fitting for a tree. 

So now I sit envisioning the bounty of autumn which will officially begin in a week or so, and the depression of summer softens and lightens and comes less frequently as my favorite time of year and the cool weather comes as a gift and a blessing. I keep the feeders filled for the wild birds and every day change their water that ices over during the night. I like the turning of the clock when night falls earlier and dark descends across the land. Some people dislike the shorter days but I take great comfort in them. I always seem happier at night when hot tea, a good book and a couch full of pugs cuddle close. Oh, I already anticipate the joy that is just ahead, and surely fills this day as well. I am happy today, and the animals feel it, the pugs almost smile and Scarlet sings, and the four smaller parrots seem peaceful and give me kisses, gently, brushing their cheeks against mine. 

I pray that the autumn brings peaceful days for you, and cozy nights to rest and find solace in the home you have created around you. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like the nest we create for ourselves, and as I pull my shawl around me and prepare to walk outside with the dogs, I bid you adieu until another day. May we all find beauty in the world around us, and whisper heartfelt thank-yous for all that we have been given.

"Autumn evening --

there's joy also

in loneliness."

~o~ Yosa Buson ~o~