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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving . . .


"To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant,
to enact gratitude is generous and noble,
but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven."
-Johannes A. Gaertner



{KK 1216}

I really wanted to prepare a nice post . . . But I plum ran out of time (and you don't even want to know what time it is that I'm typing this).  

We brought our girl back from college, my hubby is home for the week, we've pulled out a game we haven't played in a while (Carcassonne), dined with friends and went to a movie . . .  the tree is out and waiting for lights, and ingredients to start fudge making have been purchased.

I will pull out my grandmothers 'Johnson Bros.' dishes and place them on her table cloth (artfully, as it's for a round table and mine is rectangle), and we will embark on making one of our favorite family dinner traditions around the island. 

On Thanksgiving morning we will go to the sunrise (at least 2 out of 4 of us), a new tradition we started about 4 or 5 years ago and on Friday we will celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary!

And speaking of traditions, I'm sharing a favorite one today over at Focusing on Life today and I hope you'll join me!

I wish you and your families a wonderful Thanksgiving week, filled with laughter and hearts full of gratitude . . . 

From my home to yours -
Love, Kim

Sharing with Texture Tuesday, Sweet shot Tuesday, Communal Global

      





Tuesday, November 18, 2014

I have a 'Pocketful of Sunshine' . . .


"Take me away, a secret place
A sweet escape, take me away . . . "

- Pocketful of Sunshine , Natasha Bedingfield



Yep, this space...
feels like a secret place, early upon the dawn
at the first sign of life
when the darkness turns to light,
and out of blindness comes sight.

As you are reading this,
I AM here,
with friends,
braving the cold
not just because I can
but because I have to

this place IS my stillness
my peace
my calm...

my sweet escape from the chaos of life
my center in the unevenness

in this space everything is right
everything is good, and sooo many possibilities exist























{KK 411 & 99}


THIS, is my pocketful of sunshine
that I carry around in my soul.

So thankful for this!

Love, Kim


sharing with Texture Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesday, Song-ography
Communal Global


Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Thankfulness . . . it changes everything


"If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness.
It will change your life mightily." - Gerald Good


It is amazing how this gratitude thing works. 
I mean it's not like it's a secret or anything,
 and I might even dare to call myself a pretty grateful person,
BUT boy,
life sure has a way of showing up and saying . . . 

LOOK AT ME!

It can be so easy to become idle in our own problems
that we temporarily can't see the all the connections.

It's all too easy when things seem so hard,
to get caught up in attitude instead of gratitude, 
with the latter setting us free. 

And that's exactly what happened last Friday.
After an extremely stressful week I was in great need of
a change of scenery, a different perspective . . . 

...some gratitude instead of attitude.

(all with a little help from my friends)

We started out meeting at our sunrise spot, and then moved on to coffee, 
with a side of instagram, to the nearest Starbucks. It's quickly becoming
our "Friday" spot.

I brought along a little project, a random act of kindness project,
which all by itself was good for the soul.
(maybe more on that later?)

And then, we hear this deep rumbling noise and people are looking out the window
and when we ask what's going on they tell us that a military helicopter is landing
in the parking lot - for reals?

Without hesitation, the entire place leaves their belongings to check it out.
We find out that two more are on their way, arriving in 15 minutes. We dash back 
to our cars and fetch our cameras in record time and anxiously await their arrival.
By now, we have learned that this is part of a Veterans Day event over the next four days.

We were there among only a handful of people, right there, front row
while they landed the next two in the parking lot with precision.


{KK Pinit8}


This lovely woman was waiving to her husband who was flying in this Cobra (if I remember correctly) that was borrowed from the flight museum.



...and here he is setting 'er down.


 And when you practically have the entire place to yourself, you just might decide to lay down in the parking lot...why not, right?


And then you may ask if she could look your way . . . and you get a great big smile!


And while down low to the ground, with this new found perspective (because it's not very
often that I lay down in front of military helicopters I tell ya) you get this awestruck wave of
emotion, gratitude, because everything else seems a little bigger, and you feel a little smaller in
matters of the world. You have an immense appreciation for those willing to sacrifice everything
when the cards are put on the table . . . for you, and for me . . . for all of us.



A deep sense of gratitude for their service, both my own family members and strangers. I have relatives that fought in the Revolutionary and Civil wars, World War I and World War II, and one that has had 3 or 4 tours in Iraq. Some, never made it back home. I also have a strong Quaker heritage and although they were opposed to war, it didn't stop them from providing aid. In fact, the Battle of Brandywine was fought on and around our (Mendenhall) family farm and they used their teams to haul cannon and supplies to aid Generals Washington and LaFayette. And they often provided medical care for the wounded of the battles. 


After some camera talk, a hand shake of thanks and a hug, I noticed the reflection in his glasses and he was such a good sport letting me move him to just the right place to get the helicopter in his glasses. I got his email so that I could send him a copy.


...and when I wasn't looking, this little experience DID turn my week around,
mightily!!

I honor, and thank you for your service!

{My post from yesterday at FOL - Focus on Gratitude}

Love, Kim