Three Things...Gratitude Thread

[citruscurtis]

As the moves north the sunrise colors are different on the western side of the mountain range than winter...GREY.... which was good highlighting the two border patrol helicopters headed south to the Barry Goldwater bombing range where there is no wall..
Smugglers love it... death rate high

Quail here are gray as are the dove and wrens. Quail are in pre brooding season looking for the best nesting area... always seen checking out dead gray brush on the abandoned winter visitor grounds. Helter skelter across the road they panic

Gray galvanized bucket for watering colorful plants in pots sitting on gray walnut size gravel or concrete pads.lots of concrete for patios or weed control. We don't have a concrete driveway.. of the 30 houses on our block 13 don't have concrete driveway...6 of them are sand and ours is gravel

Amtrak Coast starlight is a wonderful Gray

 

[bluecastle]

I'm with ya on the grey hair, @slo !!

Grey things...

The first cat that was ever "mine" was a grey kitten named Dusty. A roommate brought him home. He was a very weird cat, but the roomie's boyfriend and HIS roomies had fed it LSD so... who knows what was going on. He was a lovely, cuddly cat, though, with some strange behaviors. He had a habit of going outdoors and being gone for days at a time(this was in the era of indoor/outdoor pets). He was always in good shape/healthy when he returned, so I suspected he had a 2nd home. One day, he just never came back. I had to comfort myself with the thought that he liked his "other" home best.

"The Bear." DD gave the this a couple of years ago, as I am always cold and our house isn't very warm in the winter. It's a grey, fuzzy-fleece pullover hoodie that goes down to my knees. VERY warm, keeps me VERY happy in the winter!

A weird thing to have in common: my sister’s BF (later husband) had a cat that he rescued in college who had also been given LSD. It was a white cat that was named Sunshine. It was the first cat I ever saw that had 2 different color eyes. She was also a bit strange, but she lived a good long life. I can’t imagine giving LSD to any living thing that has no say in the matter. It is so cruel.

 

[bluecastle]

My gray cat who was my soul mate. He went through the end of my 1st marriage with me and would jump on my bed and snuggle whenever I was feeling sad. I still miss him and feel like the 9 years that he was in my life were way too short.

My gray WDW sweatshirt jacket that says Mickey across the back that my DD gave me.

Cinderella’s Castle before it was repainted.

Honorable mention: Eeyore

 

[PollyannaMom]

In honor of :



Today's Topic (Tues, 5/20) - 3 non-intuitive things you're grateful for

(Like for the bee example - people are often scared of them instead of thinking about what they do for us.)

 

[leebee]

A weird thing to have in common: my sister’s BF (later husband) had a cat that he rescued in college who had also been given LSD. It was a white cat that was named Sunshine. It was the first cat I ever saw that had 2 different color eyes. She was also a bit strange, but she lived a good long life. I can’t imagine giving LSD to any living thing that has no say in the matter. It is so cruel.

It's why I took the kitten. I couldn't believe anyone would do that to any living thing... and they all thought it was funny.

 

[leebee]

Tough one this morning, @PollyannaMom!!

Leaving the spider webs on the windows. I HATE spiders, but they love to build webs across the outside of my kitchen windows, which are over the sink. Yes, outside... but I have to look at them every time I do the dishes. However, I recognize that they help keep the skeeters down (among other bugs) so I tolerate them. If they are really big, DH takes a broom out and relocates them. (the other option was I could stop doing the dishes, hahaha!)

Leaving my outdoor Christmas lights up all year. They are multicolor icicle lights. Hanging lights at Christmas should be "special" and something exciting to look forward to in December, so leaving them up all year takes this away. However, I find them peaceful, and I love sitting on the porch in the summer with these lights on. SO, we leave them up (and replace them as necessary) and forego the excitement in December.

[I'll keep thinking and be back with a third...]

 

[bobbiwoz]

Earthworms…I always “rescue” them after rain, and did it with my sons.
Grackles and starlings, they eat grubs, so, they are welcomed at our feeder.
“Be Nice to Spiders” was a favorite book for both sons. It was our motto when we saw one.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Grackles and starlings, they eat grubs, so, they are welcomed at our feeder.

Oooh, excellent one! It reminds me of a grackle story from several years ago. - DH was already getting a new grill for Father's Day that year, but the old one was still on the deck in the spring, and a pair of grackles somehow decided it looked like a safe place to build their nest. Even though we missed grilling until we got the new one, we loved watching them go in and out, and left the extra grill there until the babies flew away.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Leaving the spider webs on the windows.

I hear you! Even as a fan of Charlotte's Web, I have a really hard time being grateful for spiders!!

 

[PollyannaMom]

One of the things I try to consciously be grateful for is my vacuum cleaner. It represents one of my least favorite chores, but I try to remind myself it would be much harder to clean without it!

Another is my dishwasher - sometimes the noise really bothers me. But again - Doing dishes would take up sooooo much more time and drying space without it.

Rain!!! - I know we need it, but I am fueled by sunshine and often forget to be grateful for the rainy days.

 

[leebee]

Rain!!! - I know we need it, but I am fueled by sunshine and often forget to be grateful for the rainy days.

I am SO with you on this one. We are in the midst of a rainy/cloudy stretch. It looks like it's going to last until Monday (it's been going on since Saturday) and then we will be "upgraded" to partly cloudy. While I'm not a bikini-beach-tan advocate, I sure do wish we had more sunshine up here.

I guess my 3rd would be snowfall/rainfall. I KNOW we need the water. We always need the water, and they also need the water downstate, and the northern (and western) areas supply that. HOWEVER... I am currently craving some sunshine! In the winter? I am not a winter-sports fan (my winter sport is reading) and hate the cold. I'm also getting on in years, to a point where a fall could be really bad news, so I can 100% live without snow, ice, and cold. However, once again I acknowledge needing the water, so, I deal with it (and moving isn't an option).

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Good morning friends

I'm also not a cold fan. What a blessing it is to be warm and indoors when it is. I do pray for a time when everyone truly is.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Cinderella’s Castle before it was repainted.

Excellent one! I am still anti pink castle! It's just wrong.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

No spider fan here I kill every spider I see

Rain - hate it with a passion really feel like I could live in a desert just can’t stand the rain find a very depressing I understand the need for it I just can’t stand dealing with it all the time but it’s been a very rainy spring quite frankly I’ve had enough of it mother nature needs to spread it out a little bit I hate to think that she’s front loading us and then we’ll have a dry summer and then we’ll be wanting rain

Snow - as much as I hate snow and I do hate it a lot it’s something we do need upon occasions the one nice thing about it it kills off all the bugs because it’s gotta be cold to have snow so I can be grateful that it killed the bugs and it gives you a day off work because people around here cannot drive in the snow

I am extremely grateful for my dishwasher my washing machine my vacuum cleaner my modern appliances matter fact I was just talking to a friend of mine about our grandmothers having all these children and not having modern appliances and how people back then were so much tougher especially the women Than they are these days I’m not knocking women these days not in the lease bit but if you think about it women had a lot of children back then and they didn’t have any modern appliances think about doing your laundry cooking your dinner washing your dishes cleaning your rugs without your modern appliances or without electricity or indoor plumbing let that sink in - I’m extremely grateful for all our modern things that we have these days that make life so much easier and better

 

[TiggerTrigger]

So glad to see that others share my feelings about spiders. I'm also having a hard time with the bee example. Maybe it's because I was chased by wasps during my walk yesterday morning, or that time we told DD16 (she was then 9) that the honey bees in the gardens of our BNB weren't interested in her...just to have one sting her. In any event...

Our heat - I think the city has already broken three records this week and the oppressive humidity that comes with it isn't exactly fun. Still, us being routinely extra warm and humid is what keeps us from having to do things like shovel snow and keeps our skin from needing as much moisturizing.

Work/job - We're always looking forward to weekends, holidays and vacations but truth be told...having a decent and steady income is worth it, even with all of the Monday morning grumbling.

Car shopping - OMG, I loathe this so much and am on week 3 of shopping to either find something good for DD18 or find something fun for me so I can lend DD18 my vehicle. Still, to have the means to do this and the positive reasons necessitating these endeavors is the blessing for gratitude.

 

[leebee]

Snow - as much as I hate snow and I do hate it a lot it’s something we do need upon occasions the one nice thing about it it kills off all the bugs because it’s gotta be cold to have snow so I can be grateful that it killed the bugs and it gives you a day off work because people around here cannot drive in the snow

Oooh, I forgot about this! BEST reason for cold weather and snow!

 

[clappyclaps]

I have to agree with everyone who had said rain and cold. I hate the weather when its not dry and sunny, but I should be more grateful about the benefits. The cold especially as it means I dont have to do my gardening for 6 months

Work/job - We're always looking forward to weekends, holidays and vacations but truth be told...having a decent and steady income is worth it, even with all of the Monday morning grumbling.

Also this ^^, wholeheartedly agree and definitely something I should be grateful for. As much as my job and work drives me insane, without it I wouldn't have all the things I have and certainly wouldn't be going on as many amazing holidays as I have been. Need to try and remind myself of this every time I start grumbling!

 

[Allison Joy]

(Sat, 5/17) - 3 things you're grateful for that are red or cherry-flavored
Not a fan of cherry-flavored, so I'll go with red.
1. Apples
2. Strawberries
3. Raspberries

(Sun, 5/18) - 3 places you're grateful for
1. My house
2. My church
3. The St. Louis Zoo - My mom and I went yesterday (5/19) for my birthday, and the clean-up effort after the tornado/storms was amazing.

(Mon, 5/19) - 3 grey things you're grateful for
1. My car
2. The carpet in my room
3. One of my sloth stuffed animals (I have... too many. Ha!)

(Tues, 5/20) - 3 non-intuitive things you're grateful for
1. The location of my office -- It was less than a mile from the tornado that touched down in St. Louis on Friday.
2. Step-stools (I'm 4'10")
3. AI - as much as people dislike it, you can do some fun things with it, and if it's kept in check, it definitely has some pluses.

 

[bluecastle]

3 non-intuitive things to be grateful for:

Definitely bees: I don’t like that they are endangered and I know how important they are to our food chain and am grateful for that, but I have been stung in the past and I am still scared of them. (Unfortunatley, I have passed down this fear to my DGD)

I used to read the book Be Nice to Spiders to my students! I try to leave them alone unless they are the small black ones who move so fast they scare me. I will also kill wolf spiders or any spider in my downstairs bathroom that might scare my DGD. But I am grateful for al the other pests that they eat.

I am grateful for challenges. They range from fighting cancer to recovering from injuries as well as interpersonal difficulties. They all teach me lessons on how to be a better and stronger person and help me to discover my true self.