Grateful Friday

 Today I give thanks for...

It's not raining. It's still cloudy and cool, but we're getting a reprieve from the deluge.

When Lil finishes school, we're going for a walk.

We were supposed to go to Starbucks at 7 this morning, but I slept until 9 on the dot. I went then and brought her a mid morning pick me up.

It's apple picking time. We may go and stock up on Ginger Golds while we can.

It's just us girls this weekend and it's kinda nice. I know what I want to do, but I'll compromise with my best girl.

I think it will be quieter than last weekend. We had dinner plans three nights in a row. All delicious and lovely. Monday my parents came for an impromptu get together. We served kabobs. I marinated the chicken in al ran hout, harissa and yogurt. It was ridiculously tender and tasty, and went perfectly with rice and naan. It's my new obsession.

Peach tarts. I made my first on Sunday and then another on Monday adding preserves, fresh nutmeg and almonds and it definitely was improved and company worthy.

We Face Timed with Ted. It was my dad's first time and he thought it was great. We'll never forget where Ted was when he answered the call.

I finished Stray last night. This is my favorite takeaway...

We don't receive the things we want because we deserve them. Most of the time we get them because we are blind and lucky. It's in the act of having, the daily tending, that we have the opportunity to become deserving.It's not a place to be reached. It is a constant betwixt and between. It's in that hollow, liminal space that I think - hope? - humility can be achieved.

Humility.

A short stack.

Tigger in his cloud.

Tigger by my side.

Remembering. Today is 9/11. This photo was taken 3 years ago at the museum on the site of the twin towers. This installation represents the color of the sky on the that day as seen by 3000 plus artists, one for each victim. It touched me profoundly because I remember looking up that day in disbelief and thinking I'd never seen such a beautiful blue. I'm closing with this because it reminds me of something else I'm grateful for: hope. This country is deeply divided right now. The discourse is hostile and divisive, but I still have hope that we can overcome this, take care of each, and celebrate this great nation.