gratitude, day 22.

That I am married to the kind of guy who will share his umbrella with a stranger at the bus stop.

Gratitude, Day 20

... that so much, big and small, of the last 5-10 years of my life can be summed up with "I had planned to ________, but I trained circus instead." 

Damn everything but the circus!

...damn everything that is grim, dull,
motionless, unrisking, inward turning,
damn everything that won't get into the
circle, that won't enjoy, that won't throw
its heart into the tension, surprise, fear
and delight of the circus, the round
world, the full existence... 

- e.e. cummings
 

tk (gratitude day 13)

for a friend, a travel companion, a cat-sitter extraordinaire, a drinking pal, a trapeze partner.

and this. the reason we do these crazy things, hanging from each other's hands. The grace. The bringing in to being.

We talked about the fact... by Robert Lax We talked about the fact that it wasn't the danger, it wasn't the skill, it wasn't the applause that made the act what it was. It was principally the grace; the bringing into being, for a moment, the beautiful thing, the somersault, the leap, the entrechat on horseback. The skill, of course, has something to do with it. It is pleasant to know you can do anything so difficult. It is good when you have mastered it, and you are really in competition with yourself. "When we make a mistake in the ring we are very angry. The audience doesn't know, but we know." But it is a pleasure to do anything so difficult and do it gracefully. "We talked about the fact..." by Robert Lax from Circus Days & Nights. © The Overlook Press.

Let the rain come down... (gratitude, day 12)

There's a backlog of posts waiting to see if I could find the right images to go with them.  Some of them fully written, some half-formed. 

But after a quiet evening and another chaotic week, I was sitting here listening to the complaining cat and the sound of the rain.

The blessed, blessed rain.  Tonight is a quiet rain, loud enough to be heard, not a torrential downpour.  So much more is needed to really break the drought, but oh, to hear the raindrops fall is a joy.

Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.

John Updike

hand in hand is the only way to land... (gratitude, day 6)

I spent a fair portion of today in contact with another body, and not necessarily El Bandito.  A few hours of doubles trapeze training, which involves both intentional grabs and "oh crap, that wasn't what we meant to do grabs" -- and basic hand-to-hand contact.

Which was a good metaphor for the day.  My trapeze partner is one of the people who I travelled with last year in my spates of adventure -- she's a good friend and great adventure partner, in so many ways. Our mutual friend and travel companion (and her primary trapeze partner) had expressed frustration and sadness that he was effectively single-parenting for  a few weeks and was feeling overwhelmed at pre-Christmas preparation. That getting a tree, running up and down from the basement to get decorations, etc..., just all seemed too much.

To which we declared an easy solution -- El Bandito, myself, my partner, her boyfriend, her trapeze partner and his 3-y.o. daughter met up for brunch, picked out a tree, and spend the afternoon hanging out, watching them decorate and drinking champagne.

Sometimes, you just need to stretch out a hand. I think we all had a good afternoon, and I know he felt better about things when the tree was up.

outrage. fury.

There isn't an appropriate image for this. And it's a strange thing to say I'm grateful for. Fury? Outrage? Who's grateful for some negatively connotative emotions?

But I am. I am grateful that I am surrounded by voices who question the lack of grand jury indictments. Who stand up and speak for those who aren't heard.  For those who force themselves to be heard.

A strange tumult of emotions.

http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu:5801/transcription/document_images/undecided/630416-019.pdf

Tap Tap Tap... (2014 Day 1 Gratitude)

Is this thing on?

No, not really.  But resurrection in the blog world is simpler than in the real world. Here we go.

It's December.

For the last six years, Jote at blessherheart.com has undertaken a project that suits her so well, based on her papa's wisdom. 30 days of gratitude -- with a little leeway. A chance to recognize, reflect, and revel in the important things.  Which can vary from the global to the mundane; the morning cup of coffee to the abstract question.

And for the last few years, I've played along. I barely touched this blog since the last round, but hey, it's a good reason to come back, to reconnect. And on my Sunday evening run, I was thinking about Jote's project, her papa's wisdom, the kindness of Jote's heart and the circles of her world... and I knew I'd be back to this.

So here I am, grateful. For the reminder.

Stay tuned.