The Gift of a Day

My phone has been warning me for days that today would bring steady rain, every hour, all day long. I woke up this morning to surprised silence. No rain. No wind. Grey and cloudy, and a balmy near-50 degrees. Ignoring the long list of to-do’s before I leave to spend the holiday weekend with my children, I poured my tea into a travel mug and headed down the hill to the water. A gift of a day.

I paddled my kayak in a loop around Blackwalnut Creek, waving to the only other paddler and exchanging gratitude for the warmth. Gentle breeze on my face, arms and shoulders relishing the movement, I moved steadily toward a quiet cove. There I sat, softly rocking, sipped my tea and watched the birds soaring and gliding above the leafless trees. On the end of the creek near the bay, the wind picked up and the chop offered challenge and I paddled home with a tremendous sense of well-being.

Wishing you all well-being this holiday season, whatever you celebrate. Wishing you the love of family and friends, comfort for loss, ease for pain, justice at work in the world. Wishing you the peace of connection with the wind, the flowing water, the earth. Wishing you moments of joy. Wishing you all good things.