I am thankful to be alive, and I thought it would be nice to make a list (not remotely close to exhaustive) of all the reasons why. It's a very long list, and I'm thankful for that, too.
- My cielo, my cielo, my cielo, who has a whole long list all to herself...
- My family, and that we all seem to like each other so much.
- The ancient Ozark and Ouachita mountains in Arkansas.
- Dr. Johnnie and Tall Dr. Hicks, who saved my life.
- All the beautiful people who have come into my life over all these years (y'all, too!).
- My cielo's delightful family.
- Becoming an honorary Nicaraguan.
- Getting to travel so much.
- Growing into my voice and my self.
- Baseball.
- Chocolate.
- Sunset on the Catalina mountains in Tucson.
- Standing underneath the outstretched arms of giant saguaros.
- My first Spanish teacher.
- Playing piano and guitar and french horn.
- Turtles.
- Discovering blogging and kind people around the world who like to read what I write.
- Singing the Brahms Requiem in college.
- The night I hit 4 hits and 4 RBI as a fill-in player in a co-ed softball game, and was told I must be a "ringer."
- Riding my bike across town to swim all afternoon.
- Wading in mountain streams.
- Seeing the Rocky Mountains for the first time, and then hiking in them the first time with TheologyBabe.
- Ice-cold Coke.
- My daddy's cooking.
- My cielo's cooking.
- The hike I took with TBro at Philmont.
- The camping trip with SBro where the creek flooded from the overnight thunderstorm.
- The Mustang Band.
- The Bridgeport choir.
- Silver Falls.
- Iliff and my favorite professor.
- The circle of hurricane voices.
- Green grass, daffodils, roses.
- Kitties snuggling on my feet.
- The Purple Velvet Sisterhood.
- The Fab Four.
- Feast days in northern New Mexico.
- Being called a relative by an Anishinaabe/Ojibwe man.
- Rehearsing the Rutter Requiem at Bridgeport.
- Birding in Central America with my aunt.
- Being invited into people's homes all over Central America and Mexico.
- Homemade tortillas fresh off the fire.
- My mom playing the organ.
- Fishing, in various times and various places with various people.
- Playing with children.
- Yes, even Kansas.
- Potluck suppers at First Presbyterian, Monticello, AR.
- Learning my family history.
- Really good counselors to help me with depression.
- Poetry.
- Opera.
- Indigo Girls.
- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.
- The wide open, brilliant blue skies of New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado.
- Sunflowers.
- Texas hill country.
- The Bible.
- Good hymns, played well.
- Guatemalan weaving.
- Lunches and coffee dates with good friends, old and new.
- Preaching and designing liturgy.
- Feeding ducks.
- Rocks.
- Christmas trees with meaningful ornaments.
- Buttermilk pie.
- Goats. Especially baby goats.
- Fine novels and mysteries.
- Trees.
- Clouds.
- Tomatoes.
- Afternoon naps.
- My grandfather's paintings.
- That I got to know my grandmother well enough to know that she loved me, before she got Alzheimer's.
- Beaches in Costa Rica, lakes in Nicaragua, volcanoes in Guatemala.
- Music of so many kinds.
- Bonfires.
- Our abuelitos (our adopted grandparents in Tucson).
- Friends who have seen the worst of me, and stayed.
- My cielo, my cielo, my cielo...
...I am so happy to be alive!
