It's A Beautiful Day and I am Grateful

St. John Catholic Church, Indianapolis.

Indeed it is.....Happy Easter! I'm back on the blog after a temporary hiatus. Not for any reason in particular, just that life's been hectic, my camera has been on the brink, and my mind has been elsewhere. It certainly hasn't been focused on Lent and that is a tragedy, but I am still grateful. I didn't consider my spiritual renewal, I didn't make hot cross buns, I didn't dye Easter eggs, and I didn't give up anything. I didn't even get around to pulling out my Easter decorations and I always pull out my decorations.... it helps to mark the passing of time especially because figments of our imagination like Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny don't officially make a stop at this house (though the world's oldest teenager still gets an Easter basket.) But today is a new day and I hope God will forgive me my thoughtless ways. Today, my mind is focused on being still.  For that I am grateful.

While I've been busy taking each day as it comes, spring has sprung before my very eyes! I don't mind the rain and I enjoy watching spring emerge through the misty fog and gray overhang which blankets our area most of the year. The snow has melted in the foothills of the Cascades and we've seen a couple days of rain and a few days of sun all which add up to cherry blossoms that have come and gone, pink blooms, and light green tufts clinging to branches all over town on this late April day. I've never appreciated nature more than I have living in this lush landscape and this is the first year all seems to be right on time. Today there is a cool morning breeze and the dewy grass is bright green. For that I am grateful.

These will be blueberries.

Remnants of last year's tulips.

Morning sun.

Last weekend we went up to Seattle to visit KS and RJ and see their new home 10 stories above Belltown. We witnessed the sunniest, bluest, most beautiful afternoon on their rooftop deck, complete with charcuterie and bottles of bubbly. It was lovely! Especially since KS and I only had to WALK 3 blocks to Nordstrom after we polished off the first bottle. Surprisingly, shopping is a much better experience after a couple glasses of champagne.....or maybe it was having my dear friend with me. Today, I'm not wearing an Easter dress to church, but I am wearing an almost-perfect pair of jeans. For that I am grateful.

That view!

KS and I devoured the anchovies on the end....yum!!

Today, we will be celebrating Easter and a 50th birthday at a friends home. How blessed are we to be surrounded by friends who love us even if our families are thousands of miles away?  On this Easter Sunday I keep hearing my favorite prayer on repeat in my mind and I focus on my spiritual renewal. For that I am grateful.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

-St. Francis of Assisi

Today, I celebrate that we have eternal life. For that I am grateful.
Happy Easter!