Sunday Gratitude

As I had thought, this week passed by way faster that the week before. I was almost surprised how fast the weekend was here, time to reflect on gratitude.

It was another week of gorgeous sunsets when the sky was almost on fire. The photo above shows the best of them. After that the fog slowly settled in again.

I love the fog. It cools the region and brings some moisture when we're lacking rain. It's not much, but it certainly is better than nothing. It also prevents nights from being too frosty around this time. We can have some severe frost here which can do a lot of damage to all the citrus trees in the area. I love foggy mornings when you can't see the sun but there's a hint of it rising beyond the mist. The fog has a different color, the entire mood is different.

One day this week a woman in my exercise class brought in some oranges from her garden. She had so many that she generously gave them away. I took a few home, and after I had taken a few photos of them I ate the first one. I can't tell you how sweet and juicy they were. It was pure delight!

It was my birthday last week - I'm just grateful that I have birthdays in my life and I hope for many more in good health. I have seen too many friends leaving this earth way too early - there can never be too many candles on a cake! I was overwhelmed by all the good wishes I received - I have such wonderful friends! Otherwise it was a beautiful quiet day that gave me a lot of opportunity to read without feeling guilty. In the evening, one of my good friends and her family invited us over for a birthday dinner including cake and ice cream. Such a lovely evening!!! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Her entire family is delightful, her youngest daughter was a Girl Scout in my troop, she is the same age as Kaefer. They also just got a new dog, and it was great meeting her. I am such a dog person (animal person, really)! This is their old dog, Afton, who died a year ago.

I discovered a new visitor at my feeders - a Western Tanager. These birds don't come to my place very often and I was so happy to see one. They usually migrate in the winter to the South. This only shows how unusual this winter is.

Yesterday it rained a little bit again - every drop counts! It is so beautiful to see the green hills around us! I can't get enough of it. The magnolias are flowering - I just have to look out my window to see my neighbor's huge tree covered in pink and white flowers. It is breath taking. Sometimes when I go outside the air has a special fresh smell that it only seems to carry in very early spring - it smells of new life and anticipation. There is a slight almost unnoticeable mild breeze that I can feel - it often happens in January and then disappears again for several weeks.  It makes me long for spring although I hope winter stays around a bit longer and brings much much more rain. We still need it (I sound like an old broken record with my repetitive wish for rain).

What are you grateful for this past week?