Happy Easter!

Today, Christians all over the world celebrated Easter with stories of the Resurrection.  For many, Easter symbolizes rebirth and newness.  My friend Susan gave me this beautiful Easter egg (another symbol of new life).  

The silhouette of the bunny rabbit is sort of how I see the newness in my life sometimes.  I can see the shape or the outline, but I can't see a lot of the details yet.  As another friend of mine likes to say, "More will be revealed."

Also, I just realized that I had not shared one of my gratitudes from my 7th day of 7 gratitudes. I will do that now, while reminding myself that gratitude is not just for a certain day or week; it is for recognizing there is good in life every day:

I am grateful for my daughter-in-law Sharon.  Even though she and my son Eric live across the country, I think of her every day.  She is always very gracious when her mother-in-law comes to visit.  She frequently sends me helpful information and loving messages via email.  Her support was so precious to me when I called her to say that Gramma Jane had cancer.  I am blessed to have Sharon in my family.

My Education

With a college diploma hanging on my wall just behind my computer monitor, I'm surprised I didn't come up with this before. Today's gratitude is something I appreciate more the older I become.

I am thankful for my education. I didn't realize it at the time, but I received a superb education in Corvallis, Oregon, at Washington School, Garfield School, Highland View Junior High School, and Corvallis High School. I had parents who valued education. My father was a teacher. Our community, as I was growing up, centered around Oregon State University, where I eventually received my B.S. and M.Ed. Not until many years later did I really start to grasp that I took for granted something that was not available to all - even in my own country. I am very fortunate to have grown up in the time and place that I did and for the benefits I received from its educational system.

Moon and Stars

I guess this item on my list of 7 gratitudes today could also be entitled "Looking Up," because it's all about what I see when I look into the sky.

I am grateful for the moon and stars and clouds and rainbows and jet streams and all the interesting things that can be seen in the sky above. I still remember seeing a rainbow over downtown Seattle when I was preparing to move there. I still have pictures I took of two jet streams intersecting to form a cross when driving home from visiting Mom. I still recall lying in sleeping bags on the lawn on Bainbridge Island watching for shooting stars. Sometimes it is just good to look up.

My Fingers

I am never quite sure what is going to come up when I sit down to write my 7 gratitudes.  It sometimes feels like "Of course!" and sometimes feels like "Where did that come from?"  Here is one of my seven gratitudes for today:

I am thankful for my fingers.  I like that they can type on my keyboard as I write these words.  I like that they can shampoo my hair.  I like that they can hold a knife with one hand and a zucchini with the other, cutting the squash into slices.  My fingers can touch, snap, grab, caress, and many other things.

I wonder how the decision was made for us to have two hands with five fingers each.  It seems to have worked out rather well.  Wouldn't you agree?

All My Chocolates

My "7 Days of 7 Gratitudes" practice seems to always include this particular item.

I am grateful for chocolate. I love to eat - and drink - chocolate of almost any variety in almost any form. Hershey bars were one of my first loves - they were my favorite part of the s'mores we made in Girl Scouts.

Nowadays, I enjoy dark chocolate, cafe mochas, and many other chocolatey treats. Hot fudge sundaes, hot cocoa with a dash of peppermint schnapps, chocolate mousse - the list goes on and on.

I sometimes joke that every meal should have a "chocolate course." Mmmmmm. Maybe that's not a joke after all.

Autumn Splendor

Why am I writing about autumn splendor when we have just entered the season of spring?  Why am I thinking of colorful leaves when beautiful blossoms are displaying themselves?  I can't say for sure, but autumn leaves are one of the things that appeared on my list of seven gratitudes today.

I am thankful for autumn leaves.  The array of colors, the range of sizes, the very abundance of them during the fall season all appeal to me.  I enjoy seeing the colorful trees in autumn even more than in the spring.  It seems like Nature has somehow proclaimed itself in all its glory, saying "Look at me, look at me!"  Sure, there are drawbacks, especially for people who have to rake leaves, clean them out of their gutters and drains, etc.  But the vivid splendor of them every autumn cheers me year after year.

Palm Sunday

Once again, I began my "seven gratitudes for seven days" practice today.  While I hope I am grateful for the blessings in my life every day, I usually dedicate a seven-day period two or three times a year to write down what I am grateful for.  Sometimes it seems like pretty standard stuff (my family, my home, etc.), and sometimes I come up with some surprises.  Here is one of my gratitudes for today:

I am thankful for my 13-year-old Toyota Corolla, which unlike some 13-year-olds, is extremely reliable and dependable.  It goes when I want it to go, and it stops when I want it to stop.  In these times of higher gas prices, it is reassuring to know that I can drive a very long way on a tank of gas.  It is reasonably comfortable, although not exactly ergonomically correct, but that is easily remedied with a cushion.  And, the car's CD player that my family gave to me a few years back, helps to make even commuter traffic more pleasant.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

(photo from http://beta.photobucket.com/images/shamrock/)

101 Years of Girl Scouts

Everybody has a birthday - and so do Girl Scouts!  Juliette Gordon Low, after visiting England, saw the positive affect Lord Robert Baden-Powell was having with his Boy Scout program. She was inspired to start a similar program for girls in the United States. From www.girlscouts.org:

"Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low assembled 18 girls from Savannah, Georgia, on March 12, 1912, for a local Girl Scout meeting. She believed that all girls should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. With the goal of bringing girls out of isolated home environments and into community service and the open air, Girl Scouts hiked, played basketball, went on camping trips, learned how to tell time by the stars, and studied first aid.

Within a few years, Daisy's dream for a girl-centered organization was realized. Today, Girl Scouts of the USA has a membership of over 3.2 million girls and adults, a significant growth from its modest beginnings nearly a century ago. In fact, more than 59 million women in the U.S. today are Girl Scout alumnae. We invite you to learn about our robust organization and its rich history. From our willingness to tackle important societal issues, to our commitment to diversity and inclusiveness - Girl Scouts is dedicated to every girl, everywhere." (graphic from www.squidoo.com)

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.  ~Marianne Williamson

Heartbreaker Daphnes

A friend gave me a few sprigs of daphne from her garden this morning, and its sweet fragrance now fills my living room.

Innocently looking up "daphne" on the Web, I found it can have not only rhinological but emotional consequences.  In "The Temptations of Heartbreaker Daphnes," Valerie Easton says:

To have loved and lost is to have grown a daphne. Gardeners fall for the intensely sweet scent of daphne's pretty little flowers...Many bloom early enough to waft heavenly tropical perfume around a cold garden as early as mid-February. Others flower for most of the year, or obligingly re-bloom. Daphnes grow slowly and rarely need pruning. Some are evergreen with showy variegated foliage.

Yet despite all these virtues, daphnes are heartbreakers. No other plant up and dies so unexpectedly and often. How many of us have gaps in our gardens where ghosts of daphnes linger in our memories?

Easton then goes on to enumerate the varieties of daphne that have gained - then spurned - her affections before stating, "I'm not sure if gardeners who keep pursuing daphnes are masochists or optimists."

I had no idea that daphne could be so disappointing and even tragic.  I'd better go write a thank-you note to my friend.  I want her to know I appreciate the risks she took in cultivating daphne.

(For more information, go to http://seattletimes.com/html/pacificnw/2014961905_pacificplife15.html.)

A Harbinger of Spring

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come...  (Song of Solomon 2:11-12a)

Those of us here in Oregon know that winter is not necessarily past, and the rain definitely is not gone.  But it was tremendously cheering yesterday to see some little crocuses poking their heads out into the sunshine.

(photo from www.fotosearch.com)