THANK YOU FOR SMALL THINGS

 How small can something be and still be worthy of thanks?  We are staying at our friends' home in Southern California, and my husband filled their bird feeders this morning.  They are visited by mostly Mourning Doves and House Finches, the male with a rosy face and breast, the female a less opulent brown.  The doves are grateful for the ground spill; the pairs of finches show their pleasure by jockeying for rungs of the feeder as soon as it is filled.  

I'm always glad when I find an auger, those tiny sand-dwelling carnivores that live in the warm waters of North Carolina.  My mother hunted them too--it takes a good eye as they hide in gravelly shell piles of broken bits that wash up and stay as the tide recedes.  I won't find any here on the Pacific.  Come to think of it, I haven't seen shells at all, just smooth stones, half-buried or lying on the sand.  Not surprising given the abundance of sandstone, limestone, and shale hugging the coastline.   

Any piece of sea glass brings my thanks. My immediate thought is a thank-you that I came out just when this treasure rolled in with the morning's tide.  With just a little creativity, I arranged the auger with dark green and aquamarine sea glass on paper of gold, blue and white swirls.  The worm shells in the second picture are smaller than a finger too.  Then I framed the photos to adorn our remodeled bathroom.  My own creative endeavors are modest, but I'm grateful for them. 

I'm also thankful when I've been waiting for a sign of new growth.  My pot of parsley looked to have turned to dust, so I pinched it all back and watered it.  After a week green sprouted.  Why that brings so much joy I'm not sure, but it does.  Same when the buds appear on the camellia.  Or on the Rose o' Sharon.  I watch and watch for the first bloom, in fact, wake up looking for them.  

Or maybe Mr. Wiggles hasn't been eating, and now he is.  That brings a small burst of gratitude.  I want that boy to live long.  We watch our pet's health with a close eye. 

And then there are the bits of good news about our wellness that answer our prayers and bring relief.  This happens often but maybe, as we age, not often enough.  Waking without pain.  A medicine working.  The scan showing that we're stable.  Small but perhaps not, perhaps large.  

What small (or not so small) things are bringing you happiness this week?  

                                                       Thoughtfully, Nina Naomi