thanksgiving
a simple moment of thanks
Gratitude for the week. Not because it’s Thanksgiving but because Thanksgiving reminded me to crawl out of my quiet shell. If I can find all of this buried on my phone camera in just this week or two, then I am willing to say what a blessed life this is underneath and above it all. Even tucked away in that metaphorical shell.
1. the beauty of autumn, the waning light, the quiet retreating, the magic
2. that beautiful girl, those sweet goats, Nancy Drew, the pleasure of a good book, a child that fully knows the pleasure of a good book shared with sweet goats in the fresh crisp air
3. that moon that caused me to pull over on a side road and reminded me to breathe… even at the tail end of a long, long drive home from a horse show
4. baby pumpkins picked that didn’t have the time to mature because we planted WAY too late but taught us that we CAN do this. 2017…barnraised pumpkin patch…! I think they’re cute.
5. oh, those horses
6. the sweet friendships my daughter has… the fun of a sleepover and the quiet captured moment after sleep comes
7. more good books, evening family holiday read-alouds by lantern light in a warm living room on a cold rainy night
8. re-energizing our gratitude jar which became far too complacent in recent months, the joy of homeschooling, creativity and letting my girl know how grateful I am for her
9. finding eggs in the coop still warm to my touch and then mixing them fresh into pancakes and pumpkin bread, thank you chickens -still producing even with these long chilly nights
10. that moon again. takes my breath away.
11. speaking of that moon… a moonlight ride with my girl and our horses. saddled up under the super-moon, bundled up in warm clothing and wool socks, rode to our hearts content. I felt like a kid again, free under that super-charged moonlight.
12. no words needed here, just read the words in the picture.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU….
when the quiet comes
the barn has been quiet these days. I don’t mean this literally. It is rare, a quiet barn. I mean, this site. I keep up with my weekly “moment” photos and have been enjoying them. But the cowgirl, she has been short on words.
I sit here in the quiet of Thanksgiving night. Everyone asleep, the horses all brought into their stalls, dinners all fed, the house eerily still after the bustle of the day, dishes done, silence falling all around, cold settling in already at 23 degrees and falling. The ups the downs, the laughters and the disappointments of the day all done. It is now that I find myself drawn once again to words. To writing. To the barn of the soul.
It is easy to find gratitude in many things, moments, thoughts, feelings. The softness of my daughter’s cheek. The full table of food. The lack of want. The freshness of air. The beauty of the world.
It is not always so easy to find it in the quiet solace of the open space at the end of the day when the world sleeps. It is there. These are the times, my friends. These are the times that many turn on the TV, turn up the news, turn up the outside world to blur the quiet, to fill the space. In this barn, there is none of that. It is quiet space. It is the sitting with oneself that leads to appreciation. Not the hyped up, overdone, media-induced, would’ve been, should’ve been, could’ve beens but the true and deep moments of gratitude. They are quiet. They are empty. They are calm. They don’t need filling. They are also accepting of life as it is. Even in the heavier moments. Life is not about ups and downs, highs and lows. It is the peace you struggle sometimes to find, and other times not, that sits with you every moment of everyday. The solace of the open space… of… each… moment…
this moment
barnraised 