Thankful

I'm obviously very thankful for this little critter. He's lounging in front of the gas logs.

This time of year, my thoughts, like many others’, turn to the things that I’m thankful for. I could give you a list of what I’m thankful for. But I thought instead I would tell you a story about a little adventure Larry and I had yesterday.

We went to Lynchburg to do some shopping and decided to eat lunch at a Japanese restaurant we haven’t tried before.

We’ve both had Japanese food before, and Larry loves sushi, but compared to what we were served and the way we were served Sunday, we got more of the “real” food we were looking for.

As we walked through the dining room towards our seat, I saw a lot of people using chopsticks and eating dishes I didn’t recognize.

Then the host left us with menus plus a paper sushi menu with pencils.

What were we supposed to do with these?

The waiter, a very nice young man who looked like he probably attended one of the local colleges, appeared to take our drink orders. I decided to be straight-forward.

“We’ve never been here before,” I said. “What do we do with these little menus?”

The waiter said we would order any sushi by filling out the paper menu. Everything else would be ordered off the other menu.

So Larry and I looked over the menus. We didn’t recognize a lot of the dishes. We laughed at our own confusion. Then I remembered I had my phone. I Googled a few things on the menu to find out what they were. For example, I learned that sashimi is raw meat or fish thinly sliced.

Larry wanted sushi with salmon, and I wanted a vegetarian roll with cream cheese, avocado, and cucumber. We filled out our papers. Then we decided on the main dishes: teriyaki steak and shrimp for Larry, vegetable tempura for me.

The service was so nice. We got our sushi and rolls, then onion soup, which I had never had but found delicious. A green salad followed with a dressing that tasted good even though we didn’t know what kind it was.

When the main meal came, it was on a tray, with a bamboo mat covering the bottom. It was a multitude of food.

I loved the dishes—the small ones for the sauces, the soup spoon perfectly shaped, the pretty plates.

No, I didn’t get any photos. I was concentrating on the food and atmosphere, but now I wish I had snapped a few.

I wanted to try the chopsticks and took them out of the wrapper. I couldn’t figure out at first that I was supposed to pull them apart (don’t laugh). I fiddled with them a little, but I couldn’t seem to get the hang of it.

Larry brought his chopsticks home and practiced this afternoon. I think he wants to go back soon for more food.

So why is this something to be particularly thankful for? I spent time with my husband, we ate good food, and we had fun experiencing something new. We might have been a bit embarrassed by our lack of knowledge, but we just joked about it and had a good time.

These little adventures—these moments of life—they mean so much to me nowadays. I no longer wait for the perfect time to have the perfect day. Any day can be made an adventure, don’t you think?

Blessings to all of you, and if you celebrate Thanksgiving, have a wonderful holiday!

Note: This week, instead of posting on Thursday, I’ll post on Friday.

A scare, and maybe a wake-up call

A favorite picture of Larry.

Long story short, all is well.

Yesterday started out just another Tuesday. Layout day at the paper. A busy day, a long day, but a normal Tuesday.

When Larry called me a little before noon, I thought he was calling me to see if I was ready for lunch.

“You doing OK?” I asked, without even thinking about it.

“Well, I don’t know,” he said.

“What’s wrong?”

“I know it’s your busy day at work, but I think I need you to take me to the doctor,” he said.

He had been to the Y, walking on the track. He planned to walk for 45 minutes. During minute 44, he felt what he described as a “thump” around his heart, got dizzy and felt like he was going to pass out.

He was able to lean up against the wall, then sat down for a while before going home. He thought maybe he needed to see a doctor.

I rushed home.

A little background. Larry has had several episodes over the last few months where he felt weak and dizzy. Sometimes he felt pressure in his chest, but he thought it was his hiatal hernia and heartburn. He wouldn’t go see the doctor.

I knew that if he was asking me to take him to the doctor, he thought something was wrong. Which meant, to me, that something really might be wrong.

I insisted on taking him to the emergency room. There was no need to take the time to go see the doctor, I said.

Larry wouldn’t let me call EMS. And he didn’t want me to speed. Regardless of how fast I drove, though, I felt like the car was moving in slow motion.

I got him to Lynchburg General Hospital in Lynchburg, and they took him right back. They immediately hooked him up to a heart monitor and did an EKG, then blood work. Then, because he had been exercising when the episode happened, they had him do a stress test.

Everything came back normal.

They don’t know what the “thump” was. But his heart looks good.

On the way home, Larry said, “Well, I guess I shouldn’t have called you.”

“I’m glad you called me,” I said.

It’s much better to have something checked out and be nothing than to take a chance, I said.

I think Larry was most upset because he couldn’t go as long on the treadmill during the stress test as he thought he should have. He was out of shape.

But they put it on an incline, and the technician warned him ahead of time that it would be hard. They needed to get his heart rate up.

I told him that it was perhaps a good kind of wake-up call. He hadn’t been to the Y for a few months. He needed to exercise more for his health.

Larry is doing fine now. He’s watching one of his favorite TV shows, “Justified,” right now. Chase Bird sits on his lap, then jumps down and walks around, then jumps back up.

And me? I’m incredibly grateful for good test results.

Have you had any wake-up calls lately?

I give thanks

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate! I hope you enjoy time with family and friends and make new, warm memories.

And to all my readers: I am thankful for you.

“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”

― Cynthia Ozick

Larry

I give thanks for Larry.

I give thanks for Chase Bird.

I give thanks for my mother and Larry’s mother and the rest of our family.

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Leaves and pine needles caught in the fence around the raised bed garden.

I give thanks for the familiar pieces of life.

I give thanks for the new and surprising.

I give thanks for the animals and trees and flowers and skies.

Trees at sunset. November 9, 2013.

I give thanks that I have a home.

I give thanks that I always have plenty to eat.

I give thanks for clean water and clean air.

I give thanks that I have access to good health care.

I give thanks for books and words and color and light.

I give thanks for my blogland friends.

I give thanks to God for all that He has given.

“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”

― Meister Eckhart

Counting blessings on a walk

Thanksgiving is this week in the U.S., and I find it’s a good time to remember the blessings I have.

I try to count my blessings every night before I go to sleep, but I think it’s good for me—perhaps for all of us—to take the time to really think about what we’re thankful for.

I am chiefly thankful for Larry and my family, which includes our Chase Bird.

Today’s post focuses on blessings that I thought about as I walked around my yard on Sunday, enjoying the sunshine and taking photos of things that caught my eye.

It was a cold day, only getting into the 30s, with a breeze blowing. Before going out, I put on a coat and a knit cap and slipped on my gloves.

I was thankful that I had warm outerwear to put on to protect me from the elements. I was thankful for the gloves that Larry gave me a year or two ago.

They keep my hands warm, but if I have to take photos, the mitten-like top folds back and my fingers are free.

I was thankful that we had such beautiful trees in our yard and that their shapes were fully visible to admire and photograph.

I was thankful for Larry’s hard work in getting up the many leaves that fall from those trees. This is one batch down by the street, waiting for pickup by the town. Such town services are another thing to be thankful for.

I was thankful that I found a few acorns. There aren’t many this year, but I hope the squirrels and deer are able to find the ones that are there.

I also found half a nut in the yard with the insides gone. Larry thought it was a hickory nut. I hope it fed an animal a good meal.

I was thankful for the blue sky behind the trees. Fall is a time with so much less humidity than during the summer, and I love seeing the true blue of the sky.

I was thankful that I had the ability to walk around. I was thankful that I had a camera to capture some of the beauty. And I was thankful that I had a warm home to return to.

When you go for a walk, what blessings do you see?

Gratitude post

Today I am thankful for many things. Here are a few of them:

*The good report my husband received from his doctor.

*Cool mornings, cool nights, cool breezes during the day.

*The quilt that keeps me warm during the cool nights.

*Nature on the fence.

*The sound of my kitty Sam’s deep breaths as she sleeps in her little bed beside me.

*The feeling of Chase Bird’s purrs as I hold him and place my cheek against his fur.

*Getting lost in a good mystery book.

*Time spent with cousins I haven’t seen in years.

*The fact that there are always new things to learn.

*My camera.

*The shape of leaves against the sky.

What are you grateful for today?

They do go together: Depression and gratitude

What do I have to be thankful for when it comes to depression? Quite a bit, I discovered, when I sat down to make a list.

*I am thankful that I am being treated for depression. Before I was diagnosed with depression, before I was treated, I lived in a gray and brown world. That’s the way things seemed: no color, little light, dull and lifeless. Hopeless. Though I’ve had periods of depression even after I started treatment, even though I have bad times, I’ve never fully returned to that gray and brown world.

*I am thankful for the treatments that are available. I’m thankful for the medications and therapies that have been developed for use with depression. I’m thankful for the intelligent minds and compassionate hearts that have tried to find ways to combat this disease.

*I’m thankful for doctors and therapists that have helped me in the past and today. I’ve had some bad luck with providers, but overall, I’ve had some good ones, and a few excellent ones. Right now, I have a couple of excellent providers who help me weather the depression.

*I’m thankful that I can afford to pay for medication and therapy. I’m thankful I have health insurance to help me do that.

*I’m thankful for close friends who have listened to me through the years and offered support and encouragement without judgment. I’m thankful for the blogging community and the friends I’ve made through blogging. I have received so much inspiration and hope.

*I’m thankful for my cats. Their presence is always a comfort, and they teach me about love and life every day.

*I’m thankful for my husband. My world is beautiful for knowing him and having him in my life. He loves me, depression and all. I love him.

*I’m thankful for the hope in my heart. I hold on to that hope when the darkness comes around.

What is one thing you are thankful for today?