Time Out for Gratitude

Some chores, like washing dishes,  bring out the nihilistic, end of days, depressive side of me. While other chores, like hanging laundry, fill me with peace and gratitude.  So, as it is Canadian Thanksgiving, I thought I’d hang the laundry.  And wouldn’t you know it, a wave of  thoughts bright and beautiful blew in with the gentle breeze and filled me with complete love for my life.

I am grateful to live in a town where beauty lives in all the details, where I can walk to the doctor, dentist, hospital, grocery store, bank and post office.  A town filled with music and culture and the best farmers market and silence and interesting people.
I am grateful for my 82 year old neighbour, Margaret, who takes walks with me and inspires me to never stop moving.
I am grateful for my wise ass, funny and witty 13 year old son who still demands to be hugged several times a day and tortures me with bad jokes.
I am grateful to my talented and handsome husband who keeps me laughing, makes me beautiful furniture  and stoically endures the hardship of being married to a rabble rousing big mouth.
I am grateful to have the friendliest dog ever, who lives only to love (and eat) and turns himself into a dead weight when he sees people off in the distance who just might adore him.
I am grateful to the first people I see each morning, Pam and Trevor, who work for the town, who always keep treats in the ride on lawn mower and make detours just to chat with the dog.
 I am grateful to the old guys that sit on the bench at those apartments on Blockhouse Hill, who always have something clever to say and, of course, a treat in their pockets.
I am grateful to live minutes away from the Atlantic Ocean.
I am grateful to have a life of creativity, where my biggest frustration is not being able to materialize all the ideas in my head.
I am grateful for being so damned privileged, to own a home and a car and a fridge full of food.
I am grateful that my son gets to go to a French school where he has learned to be bilingual and that the school bus comes right to our door each morning and brings him right back again at the end of the day.
I am grateful to live in a sparsely populated province, where I can be alone on a beach or a trail and live without traffic or traffic lights.
I am grateful that my son is still excited when he sees an escalator.
I am grateful to have parents who have always supported me.
I am grateful to have never known hunger or violence.

I am grateful that my neighbours cut down their tree in their yard, but still kept the trunk, so that I can still have my clothes line.