Thankful Me

  A look out my back door. Snow is falling. The leaves on the aspen trees are turning yellow, and the sumac leaves are red.  Until yesterday, the weather for the week was gorgeous. Highs in the mid-70's and beautiful blue skies provided a lovely contrast to the changing colors of the trees. As I'm writing this, on Sunday afternoon, a light snow is falling. It's mesmerizing to watch from inside my warm house. Even though the seasons changed so abruptly, we made the most of the week, and I'm thankful: 1. For another year around the sun. John found a 4-leaf clover for me, all of my kids called or saw me in person. I'm definitely a lucky woman.  a four-leaf clover that John found 2. For the hiking trails behind our home. The video below shows part of one of our hikes: a creek in the canyon.  3. For the changing fall leaves. Red-orange leaves on trees on the side of the road 4. For a visit to BYU's Museum of Art . It had been a while since we had been there. If you a...

  The fountains at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas I missed the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop last week. John and I went to Las Vegas to see a couple of shows (Blue Man Group and America's Got Talent), came home for one day, then spur-of-the-moment decided to go to California to visit with the grandchildren for several days. We got back home Thursday night, and now of course the Las Vegas trip seems so distant and I've just got grandchildren on the brain (and spending time with them counts as all ten items on my thankful list), but I will try to catch you up on what I would have said last week had I gotten a post written. We were in Las Vegas from Tuesday, October 6 to Thursday, October 8. Early on in the vacation, I was mentally composing a post in my head, and thought I would mention how we were able to visit Las Vegas on a budget. We stayed in the Luxor Hotel, after checking their calendar and realizing that the nightly charge was ridiculously affordable mid-week. (AND the...

  A tiny lesser goldfinch sits on a dandelion stalk in the grass It's October! The temperatures are cooler, and this week I found myself taking time to notice little things around me, like the cute lesser goldfinch in the photo above. Just that one photo prompts several things I am thankful for, so let's just dive into the Ten Things of Thankful list! 1. I'm thankful for birds that visit my yard. 2. I'm thankful for a guidebook to help me identify the birds. 3. In the entry for "Lesser Goldfinch," the guidebook reads: "Lesser Goldfinches feed on dandelion seeds and raise their young on soft unripe seeds. They adjust the time and place of their breeding to the presence of this staple food." I guess that means I am thankful for dandelions, because without their presence in my yard, I probably would not see that cute goldfinch.  (Next slide, please.) Lavell Edwards stadium fills prior to the BYU/USU football game, as the sun sets amid dark clouds 4. I...

A lone bison grazes in a meadow in front of the erupting Castle geyser in Yellowstone While Labor Day weekend traditionally sees families enjoying summer's last hurrah, John and I decided to spend the week of the autumn equinox camping at Yellowstone National Park. It's been quite a few years since we last camped in a tent, and even longer since we've camped in a tent during rainstorms. However, camping is easier with two adults than it is being outnumbered by children (fun though that is--seriously), and we both knew better than to touch the sides of the tent and invite the precipitation inside, so we managed to stay relatively dry. We also were happy to eat PB&J and leftover pasta salad for dinner while sitting securely in the van. Neither one of us drew on the fogged up windows nor breathed each other's air nor put an arm on the other's arm rest, so all in all, it was a boringly peaceful occasion. The rain didn't actually start until Wednesday afternoon, ...

  A collage of two photos: the one on the left is a sign from the Mad Greek Cafe that says, "Please do not grab the Mad Kitties." The one on the right is a photo of a black and white cat sleeping on a chair. Last weekend, John and I drove to California to visit the grandkids. Even though we've made that trip many, many times, there's always something new to see. This time, it was learning that the Mad Greek Cafe in Baker now has resident cats. I just had to take a photo. :-) I'm composing this while watching the BYU football game on TV. Hopefully the game will improve, but if not, at least I'll feel better after remembering what I am thankful for this week.  1. I'm thankful for finding paneer on a great sale at Costco. I don't think I'd ever purchased paneer before, but because it was so inexpensive, I bought it and found a recipe for saag paneer  that I think will go in the regular rotation. I modified the recipe slightly: I didn't use ghee, i...

A purple African violet  This week, I thought I'd run a quick errand to the local one-stop shopping place. The blinker on the car was out, so I headed to where the automotive lightbulbs should have been, only to find myself in the toy section. Sigh. Then it dawned on me that if I changed something up in my own house, I would feel a sense of joy and accomplishment. If a familiar store tries it, though, I'm none too happy. Strange. Perhaps I'm a bit of a control freak. :-) In any case, I'm going to focus on the changes (and some constants, too) that I'm thankful for this week: 1. I divided and repotted some of my African violets. I then had an abundance, and was able to share one with a neighbor whom I hadn't had a chance to really visit with before. We had a nice chat, and I'm glad we got to know each other a bit. 2. The weather is cooling down a bit. We've had a stretch of rather hot weather lately. Even though we've been in Utah for 5 years now, I s...

  The colorful old buildings above the creek in Ketchikan, Alaska Before July, I had never been to Alaska. Earlier this summer, John and I booked a cruise to go to Alaska in August. After we booked that cruise, we received an email from a different cruise line offering unbelievably low rates for a last-minute cruise to Alaska. As responsibly as two kids in a candy store, we decided to take as many cruises as we could, so we booked that July cruise, too, and took our son and his girlfriend along. Walking around Ketchikan, Alaska in July in the pouring rain really wiped me out--or so I thought, until I tested positive for covid the next day. Last week, John and I returned from the second, though first booked, Alaska cruise, and I can tell you that Ketchikan is much more enjoyable than the town formerly known to us as Caughtacovid.  I'm thankful: 1. We both remained healthy and well on this cruise.  John and I smiling in front of a waterfall in Tracy Arm Inlet 2. We live on ...