#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

Last scrap, wetlands ice

“Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.”

~Gertrude Stein

All the ice, except this tiny beautiful patch above, is gone. The river’s edge, the wetlands, the brook–melty and messy and the ground mushy. A light breeze, plenty of sun, and a rapidly warming day. Sun lights the trail as we walk, me, Charles, Suzi. Suzi is cheerful and energetic in this warmth. I am happily warm. The ice, very likely, will return soon enough. I let my body just feel the pleasant confusion of a mixed season. It’s so lovely to feel the sun warming my arms and face and legs. Tonight, an almost full moon is shining through a high window right on me, beaming bright moonlight after a full day. My husband is a good listener. I vented about something that was bothering me that I cannot change. I needed that. But later, I found the Gertrude Stein quote about silent gratitude being wasted. And the rest of the day, I made it my practice to feel and express gratitude. And it felt easy to find so many things. There is so much power in feeling thankful; and so much more power in saying it out loud to someone who needs to hear it. A reader wrote me an e-mail about yesterday’s blog. Just saying thanks. I thanked my husband for letting me vent. He appreciated hearing that his listening helped me let go and feel better, less attached and more at peace. The moon is climbing higher than the window into this night.

Leaf in sun, morning trail