Fifty Days of Gratitude: Days 40, 41, & 42

There's a certain amount of irony that my last post, which was Wednesday, started with my observation that the sky was ablaze. I wouldn't say that last night's northern lights were blazing so much as they were dancing and sparkling and magically illuminating the skies. We stood with others who had come to the water's edge hoping for a view. We'd been there for almost an hour, feeling a bit like Linus in the pumpkin patch awaiting the Great Pumpkin, when the skies became illuminated. In that moment, all of us who had gathered became united in our awe. Ooooos and Ahhhhhs and Oh my gods. People calling and taking calls from their beloveds....go outside! Do you see them?

Earlier that evening Bruce and I had enjoyed our first dinner outside on our patio. The warm temperatures were such a welcome gift. We had begun to feel that it had been chilly for a long while.

When we returned home, the windows were still wide open and our house smelled so fresh and good. A house with the windows open always smells like my Nanny's house, like love has floated in on the breeze and there's a pie in the oven. This morning there's not a pie, but a banana pudding that Bruce is whipping up for a family mother's day celebration later today.

I am grateful indeed, for the magnificent rare beauty that unites us and for dinners that can be eaten outdoors and for a home that smells a lot like love.