May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life
that have, for us, thus far accrued…
and to begin each day with a word of thanks…
and thoughts of gratitude.
Today I’m thankful for the alphabet
it’s influence is immense…
without it…these words you’re reading
would not make any sense
As we prepare to leave the mountains…I admit…I have no shame
for I’ve also been preparing…to play the alphabet game.
It’s a game we’ve played since our children were little…
on our trips from the mountains to the sea…
One person names something we’ve done that starts with the letter A…
and we keep going until we reach the letter Z.
It’s a wonderful family game…as anyone whose ever played it knows
and to get an edge for when we leave tomorrow…Alphabet game…here goes.
Asheville, Arrow, Birds, Bonnie, Bryan, Cherokee, Deer, Elk, a Freeze
(You see by getting this head start…I’m going to win this game with ease).
Games played in the cabin on a picnic or on the porch in the afternoon.
Hikes, Indigenous, Jelly from Momma’s Boy, Killers of the Flower Moon.
Leaves of many colors, the Moon, the Mountains,
Nantahala, the Oconaluftee River all aglow
Poplar trees, a Quart of cider, Raccoons,
a Steam engine, playing in the Snow..
Turkeys in the yard, Umbrella’s in the rain, Vegan fest
Waterrock Knob with sunsets that astound
X…a letter we ignore….Yellow colors all all around.
Z is another letter that is difficult but I have this one in the bag…
in the mountains we traveled on many roads with curves that zig and zag.
There you have it I am ready for out 2 day trip back home…
I only hope that Deborah…doesn’t take the time to read this poem.
(Of course there are no winners or losers…that is just a myth…
The real treasure of this game….is having someone to play it with.)
May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life
that have, for us, thus far accrued…
and to begin each day with a word of thanks…
and thoughts of gratitude.
Today I’m thankful for each single leaf…
because
as the falling leaves paint the ground
in a colorful quilted motif…
I am struck by this wonderfully profound
and simply basic belief
that all this beauty would not be possible…
without each single leaf.
I watched an oak leaf fall today…watched it leap off the tree without making a sound…
I watched it float and spin and flutter…until it landed on the ground.
I ran to where that oak leaf landed…where I was relieved…
to see that oak leaf had come to rest…on a cluster of maple leaves.
“Are you okay?” I asked the oak leaf…”That was a long drop and you’re so small.”
“I’m fine.” The oak leaf said. “I have friends who I knew would catch me when I fall.”
“But I see only maple leaves.” I remarked.
“There’s not another oak leaf anywhere around.
“How did you know the maple leaves would bring you softly to the ground?”
The oak leaf gave me a quizzical look…I think we was beguiled…
while at the same time all the maple leaves looked at me and smiled.
“We are all part of nature.” The oak leaf said. “We are nature one and all.
It is our job…our pleasure as part of nature…to catch each other when we fall.”
“If you’ll excuse me for a moment.” the oak leaf said. “I haven’t got much time to play.
you see a poplar leaf just left her tree…
and I think she’s falling our way.
I left that oak leaf with the maples so they could do their job…
Wondering…as today for people all over the world we grieve…
how wonderful it would be if we humans…
were as intelligent and compassionate as the leaves.
“I didn’t have time to thank that oak leaf because when I turned around
he was busy with his maple leaf friends…
helping that poplar leaf land softly on the ground.
May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life
that have, for us, thus far accrued…
and to begin each day with a word of thanks…
and thoughts of gratitude.
Today I’m thankful for the moon
and how it reminds me of this Indigenous people’s prayer:
Let us know peace
For as long as the moon shall rise
For as long as the rivers shall flow
For as long as the sun shall shine
For as long as the grass shall grow
Let us know peace.
I was awakened early…by a sound in the woods something running to and fro
and when I reached the porch to take a look I found the entire mountain aglow.
I noticed part of a bench on the porch was lit up…which made me stop…and smile..
It’s as if the moon was inviting me to sit down and stay a while.
So I decided not to go back to bed…after all…the moon was calling
and I was too excited to sleep…this moment too enthralling.
An indigenous legend came to me…that has a kind of magical theme…
It says if you can’t sleep at night…it means you are awake in someone else’s dream.
So with the crickets in the background singing their nightly tune
I accepted her invitation…and sat down…in the glow of the moon.
As I sat on the bench…in the quiet solitude of the night…
just like the mountains and the trees around me…I too absorbed of her light.
Yes, as I looked out at the scene in front of me…colored in blacks and muted blues…
I was truly a part of nature…for I was glowing too.
In the glow of that giant full moon…with everything in silhouette
I saw it was a family of raccoons who woke me…I guess they hadn’t finished eating yet.
In the glow if that giant full moon…cooled by an early morning breeze
the falling leaves sounded like raindrops as winter nudged them from the trees.
And I thought If I am awake in someone else’s dream…wherever that may be…
I hope the dream that they are dreaming is as beautiful…as my reality
May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life
that have, for us, thus far accrued…
and to begin each day with a word of thanks…
and thoughts of gratitude.
Today I’m thankful for campfire clothing…
because I shall never tire
of putting on a jacket or coat
that has absorbed the aroma
and the memories of the fire.
We love to light campfires in the mountains…especially in the Fall
In the cool of the evening…our fires are warm…and cozy…
they are intimate…and small.
A campfire has the power to mesmerize…to relax us for a while…
as we sit and watch it’s colors change…we close our eyes…and smile.
I love watching the flames leap into the air…in the silence of the night
seeing the faces of friends and family…illuminated by its light.
There is magic in a campfire…in the way it casts a spell
taking us to the place within our memory where other campfires dwell.
Suddenly we’ve moved…we’re not sitting at the same campfire anymore.
We’re children telling stories…toasting marshmallows…making s’mores.
And we realize it’s not just this campfire we love…it’s all the campfires we’ve amassed
and that a campfire’s special gift is how it links to all the campfires of our past.
And we remember with fondness a time…when we were more innocent and free
when nothing else mattered in our lives…
but a campfire…
friends
and family.
May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life
that have, for us, thus far accrued…
and to begin each day with a word of thanks…
and thoughts of gratitude.
Today I’m thankful of Autumn…
the only season that has the power
to turn a handful of leaves
into a bouquet of flowers.
As more and more leaves are beginning to fall meaning Autumn is coming to an end
we remembered we promised to bring a collection of leaves back to Florida
to the children of our neighbors and friends.
So we’re catching fresh leaves as they fall…hoping we’ll make the right selection…
that we’ll find the perfect leaves…in a rainbow of colors…
for an Autumn leaf collection….
We couldn’t help thinking back to when we were young, innocent and protected
at all the things that amazed us back then…and all the things that we collected.
We collected dolls and rocks and bugs we’d find crawling in our yards…
seashells, coins, action figures…marbles and baseball cards…
But of all the collections we amassed…that our imagination and knowledge fed
the most important things we as children collected…were the words our parents said…
Their words of compassion…words of joy…
the way they said our name
their words of love…their words of hate…
we collected them all the same.
What made these words important…
the words our parents’ were choosing…
is that we caught and we collected them…
and they became the words that we’re now using.
So we are happy to add our assortment of leaves
gifted to us from the trees this Fall…
to their collection of words from their family and friends…
their most important collection of all.
