Good Morning Digital Neighbors from across Locals! Good to see the Early Birds & Dawn Patrol, the Fascinating People and Phamily, the Refugees and Triggeratti and Supports, Members and Visitors to our intentional communities. It is good to be here. Someone said that in the Bible, for real!😉

One of my favorite recurring topics is gratitude. Striving for a grateful heart doesn't mean that I am oblivious to the the problems of life and the myriads of problems facing our world. We went from Orange Man Bad and His Ego to Mr. Magoo and the wreckage he leaves in his wake. We went from one of the most content chapters in American life (Unless you suffered from Derangement Syndrome) with a booming economy and peace forming in the Middle East to a lockdown and various mandates that have destroyed small businesses and have ruined lives and families. We went from we are all in this together to "show me your papers" in a heartbeat. We once thought of people as healthy and unhealthy, now it is either the Vaccinated or The Diseased (Well maybe, can't sure and can't be careless, so better off thinking you are diseased.) Thankfully there are exceptions to this dichotomous thinking taking place in culture, we are on one of the mediums where that is the case.

I am thankful for rural life providing a great insulation to the insanity of the main current of culture, my little slow tributary is more than enough for me. Dust from combines is one of the best things to drive through, the smell of Autumn fills the air and even in the jeep with all the vents shut smells of dry corn and dust. Trees are beginning to change, perhaps not in overwhelming glorious splendor, but in subtle nuances of color. Even the bare trees have an attractive starkness to them. The Beauty of nature, the comfort of friends, the little things that are so wondrously commonplace in my life.

I have family, friends and neighbors. I am blessed at the moment with an abundance in my life. I realize and suspect that it may not last forever, in fact signs seems to indicate there may be a crash coming that may make previous difficult chapters of modern life look like a picnic. I hope that is not the case, time will tell. I am not afraid of what will happen or where the current road may lead. I am thankful. To God, to others, to creation for the blessings that are evident and the ones that too frequently remain hidden from my active attention.

I hope you find a reason to discover gratitude today. Thank the Divine if you believe in One, thank providence if you believe there is some guiding force in life, or just thank your lucky charms that good stuff can happen in the midst of a broken world, a hurting life and things being far from perfect. If the pain is overwhelming, the sorrow too soul crushing, I hope today is a day to find some relief.

I pray and strive to be a person of perspective rather than circumstance. My perspective can remain steady no matter how the circumstances may change on any given day. I hope I can remember that if circumstances change for the fearfully worse anytime in the future. I pray I can remember what I once possessed if misfortune makes the future path more demanding. The foundation of my perspective is gratitude for the gift of it all. I am thankful for the Gift and the Giver. Thanks for indulging me once again, time is precious, perhaps the most precious thing we possess since all things good happen in and with time.

Another Mary Engelbreit drawing - back to Autumn photography on Monday. I do have a fondness for the nostalgic style of her artwork. It makes me think of Mom. Happy Sunday Friends!