Blessings in the air

For some reason this image -- taken last fall on a visit to Kalaloch on the Washington Coast -- reminds me of that diamond necklace in the movie, Titanic...

But mostly this morning it speaks to me of the gifts life gives us; I've been feeling particularly blessed. Blessed by the fog this morning -- a welcome and soothing relief after the past few days of hot sun -- blessed by the lessons learned in class yesterday, blessed by the visit (later today, can't wait) of a reader from Texas who's in the area and wanted to visit, blessed by this morning's sermon on the Good Samaritan (and by the reminder of the church of that name that we helped start some 20 years ago; what a kick that was!).

There's a lot I could write about today, but my time (and your patience, I'm sure!) are limited, so I'll just say I'm thinking about how many gifts there can be if we just stop, breathe, and listen to our hearts. Or maybe that's just me, today, feeling joyful and optimistic now, even though I woke up a little cranky. Might be that double short decaf breve that just walked through my office door -- and the apple fritter (we call them "fat pills") that tiptoed in behind it. They're not gonna help me lose weight, but I sure am going to enjoy them: Thank you, honey!

To all of you: may you find refreshment, peace and joy somewhere in your day today...