The US celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday this week. As usual, there is plenty of food, fun, and family for which to be grateful and enjoy. If we were having coffee this week, I would tell you a few things I am very thankful for.
The season of Thanksgiving, depending on when you observe the holiday, seems to be a good time to take stock and remember things for which we can be thankful. I am in the habit of being thankful every day.
Gratitude for Seasonal Delights
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” ~Ecclesiastes 3
Four Seasons…
Despite the swings in temperature and weather patterns, I am thankful to experience all four seasons here in Northeastern Washington.
…Under the Northern Lights
“I tried to imagine myself a long time ago, in the lands where these stories were first told, during the long winter nights perhaps, under the glow of the northern lights…”
~ Neil Gaiman
In the almost three years we have lived here, I have been blessed to see the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis twice The first time was in October 2021, from my front porch.
I was thrilled to be able to see them again recently in early November, also from my backyard. These were all photographed in night mode with my Samsung Galaxy cell phone. This time a lot more color was visible through the lens, but not to the naked eye.
Appreciation for Abundant Wildlife
“Express gratitude for the greatness of small things.” — Richie Norton
You already know my love of wildlife and I see my share every day.
My new phone has a great zoom and captured two loons which made for a dreamy image.
Deer visit our property daily, with Brodie standing guard…
Thankful for Family Near and Far
“Always keep that little place where the magic grows inside of you…alive.” ~ Unknown
Last year my stepdaughter and her hubby flew from Arizona and spent the Thanksgiving holiday week with us. We were incredibly grateful for the time we spent with them.
In a few days, my oldest daughter (pictured on the right) is traveling from California to stay with us through the holiday. This will be her second visit; her first was only for a few hours in June 2021.
The last time we spent Thanksgiving together was in 2020 at our former home in Sacramento. My daughters came to say goodbye to the house and COVID protocols kept our gathering distanced and masked.
In September, my brothers and I circled the wagons and moved my dad and stepmom to Payson, AZ. After a physically and emotionally taxing two weeks, we did the right thing in getting them to a safe place to live.
Grateful for Health and Fitness
“He who has health has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.” – Thomas Carlyle
My GP says I’m in excellent health. But, having recently recovered from a nasty head cold (probably the flu), which morphed into a sinus infection, it was 21+ days of symptoms. I guess I made up for not having a cold or flu since 2018. Even my two tours of COVID weren’t this bad.
Aside from walking on local trails, I’m looking forward to snow-shoeing when it begins to snow.
We plan to be snowbirds in January 2024 and stay with friends and family in Arizona for the entire month. I know I said I love the four seasons, but winter wears me out when the whole month of January here in Washington is fogged in due to snowy conditions. It’s dark enough without unending days of fog.
And during these cold winter days ahead and all year long, I am ever thankful for my coffee!
Inspiring Photo Challenges This Week
Each week I find inspiration from my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I enjoy incorporating these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.
- Cee’s Flower of the Day
- Dawn’s Festival of Leaves
- Johnbo’s CellPic Sunday
- Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share
Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders
The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.
- Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
- Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
- Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
- Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
- Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
- I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.
This Week’s Featured Bloggers
Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers, poets, artists, and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who shared their photos of things for which they are thankful. I add these all week as new links are posted.
I am also thankful for over 30 links to Sunday Stills last week when we shared shades of brown!
- YOUR BLOG’S NAME GOES HERE…
- 100 Country Trek
- Always Write
- Between the Lines
- Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
- The Day After
- Deb’s World
- The Doglady’s Den
- Equipoise Life
- Graham’s Island
- Hugh’s Views and News Image shared in comments
- Light Words
- MilePebbles
- The New 3 R’s
- Quaint Revival
- Picture Retirement
- Stevie Turner
- This is Another Story
- Travels and Trifles
- Walkin’ Writin’ Wit & Whimsy
- Woolly Muses
- Working on Exploring
“When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place.”
— C.S. Lewis
For Sunday Stills this week, let’s share what we are thankful for in photos, poems, and stories.
Happy Thanksgiving 🦃 to all who celebrate this week. Please join me next Sunday, Nov 26 as we explore things that are round.
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