Thankfulness Project: Day 1

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.

-George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans)




I am thankful for this time of year.  Fall has always been my favorite season.  Having made it through the harsh heat of summer, things thankfully slow down.  Stand still and you can feel the gears of the earth grind down gradually.  People make plans for time and holidays with family and friends.  And they count the blessings of their own.  I'm glad when people are thankful.

And this year, today, I am thankful to spend fall at home in Kentucky.  The mountains, the trees, the familiar faces make me feel safe and loved.  So very much at home.  I had to leave this place to love it fully.  I'm back now and grateful for it.  Grateful to drive these narrow winding roads and to speak words to strangers with a natural drawl. 

I am thankful that the season has the slow time built in, allowing us a little extra space to enjoy the beauty that only comes in fall.  Even as a child, even before my vision was corrected with dreadfully large glasses to see the leaves clearly, I was enthralled, mesmerized by their colors in autumn.

The sense of awe has only deepened in adulthood.  And today, driving these roads of home I couldn't help but be thankful for soft blue skies, a kind, warm sun and a gentle breeze.  Perfection with a jean jacket and mug of spiced apple cider.  The perfect setting to enjoy these precious few days of the last leaves still clinging to the trees.  The vibrancy and variety of their hues making it certain they will fall soon.

I breathe in the crisp autumn air.  Eyes wide, I scan all around me to absorb every last drop of brilliant color I can.  It won't be long until everything is dusted over with the dull brown of winter's dead. 

It will have blessings and struggles of its own.  But not yet.  Today I am thankful for fall.

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I've decided to jump on the November Thankfulness Project bandwagon this year.  I love reading each new thing my friends post each day.  I read the first batch this morning and thought, "I need to do that too."  So I am.

This will be VERY FAR from a comprehensive list of things I am thankful for, and in no particular order.  My husband asked if he would make the list.  I had to tell him I didn't know.  I am so very thankful for him, but this is a different kind of project.  I'm reflecting each day on something that stands out at the moment as a sweet blessing in my life and who knows what that might be.