Lessons in Gratitude

As we all know, the year 2008 has been a bumpy ride.  Outside of our bubble, only the TV or newspaper reminding of its tumultuous upheavals, the evidence is clear that the world is ready for a change.  

As fall creeps into winter (for some this has come sooner than they would have liked), living things become hibernating things, including humans.  We hole ourselves up in a warm place, ready to cozy up next to a roaring fire, a blanket, a good book, and hot chocolate in hand.  In North Carolina, we are fortunate enough to have a quick, easy winter, although this is all relative.  Natives to this state complain as much as people did back home in Minnesota.  The wind frigid, bringing temperatures below freezing in NC.  This would be considered a warm spring day, the first signs of thaw, in Minnesota.  With temps closer to 40 degrees, you would see teenage kids, defiant against their parents, wearing t-shirts, sometimes shorts, even flip-flops.  So daring, but it does feel tropical when you have had 6 months of temps at our below 10 degrees above zero.   I am grateful for the change in seasons, bringing fresh, reborn life to the surface every year.  

Here in North Carolina, I always have to chuckle when schools and businesses are cancelled due to the measly inch of snow received the night prior.  But, I think the state only owns a few snowplows, sand spreaders and clearing machines.  We have it relatively easy here, and I think that is why we stay.  College, or for that matter, 16 years of schooling, has exhausted us.  We enjoy the easy life, but I have the itch to do something greater.  I am grateful for what I have been given, the chance to go to college and study something that I absolutely love: soil.  The basis for all living things on this earth.

I hope to take my GRE and go on to get my masters.  Money is always the forefront of my mind when contemplating when, where, and how I will accomplish this goal.  A masters degree opens doors, especially for a female in the science field.  I see them open, and desperately want to pass through.  I am grateful for the option to further my education, no barriers holding me back.

Joseph is starting to become a bit of a celebrity here at the pottery during the openings.  It is very encouraging.  We should stay in North Carolina in order to take advantage of the hype around his art.  Where, we have no idea.  Maybe somewhere closer to the mountains.  I am grateful for the opportunity to have the choice on where we will love and start a family.

My boss passed away one week before Christmas.  He was diagnosed with lung cancer only a month previous, never having smoked in his life.  It was tragic, nobody having the time or energy to really mourn and say goodbye.  I still wait to hear his footsteps coming down the hall, charging in our doorway, asking "Who wants to go on a one-way?"  Meaning, who wants to walk up to his parked car 2 miles away at one of the local restaurants, the General Store.  They had sweet tea; he always got a chicken caesar salad and a tea, half sweet and half un-sweet.  The walk was always wonderful, getting our blood pumping, moving tense joints created from a stressful accounting day.  The conversation was always joyful, full of anecdotes and the latest gossip from the town or from the New York Times.  He was generous, never wanting more money, but more lasting, strong friendships.  He had one with me.  Mark Estill will be greatly missed.  I am grateful for a healthy body, so young and strong.  Please let me nurture it so that I may wear my days out on this earth, satisfied with my accomplishments from the day. 

We had the opportunity to travel home over the Christmas break.  It was cold, but we acclimated quickly to the below zero temperatures.  We saw close family and extended family, old and young.  We saw our family dog, Bailey, old, deaf, and blind, but still as cuddly as ever.  I wasn't ready to leave.  Seven days fly by, especially when you are traveling across half the state to see people you love.  I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to travel home, as plane flights increase in cost every year.  My family and Joseph's family are both incredible; I am so incredibly lucky, and grateful.