Best wishes to all in the southern United States or in the Pacific who have recently suffered from huricane Ian or the several typhoons. Our thoughts are with you.

This morning I am grateful for and enjoying morning sunshine. We are having a little warm up this week in the 60s (F). The trees are starting their slow march of changing colors, which is a delight to see, and new each day.

My husband and I are working on some autumn house projects before cold weather sets in, and we have several new people coming today to buy honey. We have black walnut trees on our property, and we have not been eating them (they are a lot of work!), but we know people look forward to this time of year and the black walnuts, so we bag them up and put them on our front lawn for people to pick up.

My elderly cat, Fisher, came running to me as soon as he finished breakfast, wanting to be brushed. His fur is improving, but he still has many small mats, particularly on his hips and underside where he doesn’t like me to brush. I did cut out part of the large mat on his hip, as much as he would tolerate, as I was making no headway with a brush and it was giving him pain. Then this morning when I tried just a little too much brushing on one of his mats, he tried to bite me and went off in a huff, but then he started grooming himself! We got so excited that both of us ran for our cameras, but then he stopped, Lol. It was only his face he was washing, but it was something, and a good sign that he is feeling a little better!

I have been contining to read the wonderful herbal book. It is still talking about the earth and gardening, and doing so in a very sustainable way.

There are many little, ordinary things for which to feel gratitude… the season, the trees, work to do, my husband, bounty, my old cat, good books, Gratitude.org, and friends here. Have a wonderful day!

Always! There are maple trees outside my windows that I enjoy every day. The large one in my front yard and another on the street are just thinking of changing color, so mine is getting a little orange on the outside edges of the leaves, as if it is getting guilded, and my neighbor’s has an orange spot where the evening sunset hits it. Right now I have a tree on my dining table… yes. The cold nights this week said it was time to bring my potted citrus trees indoors, so I have a pretty mandarin orange tree on my table, that towers over us. Soon it will be moved again to a sunny room, but I am enjoying our dinners this week, under an indoor tree!

This morning I am very grateful for the caring staff of Gratefulness.org… thank you! ❤

And I’m thankful for this day. It truly feels like autumn, today. It has been cooler for a week, so the leaves are changing, the sparrows are gathering in great chattering clusters in their favorite bushes, the squirrels are getting nuttier, when the wind blows we hear walnuts come down on our roof, “THUNK!” …and this morning I heard the furnace come on for the first time. It is throw blanket and sweater season at last! …good books and hot tea! ☕

I think I often receive tolerance from my dear husband and children, but I’m not certain that is quite the same as forgiveness. Tolerance is accepting that people are as they are, for whatever reason, and understanding that they try and have no meanness.

When I think of from whom have I received actual forgiveness I draw a blank. Maybe this is because forgiveness sets us free to move on, hopefully a better person. But what does come to mind is when I have been able to forgive myself, and this happens, lol, somewhat regularly.

As caring people we strive to be better people, and we can set expectations on ourselves. I don’t think it is bad to strive, but it makes it almost inevitable that we will sometimes fall short. I often need to forgive myself at these points, to calm the inner critical mind, to stop myself from berating myself. Forgiveness is such an important tool in our toolbox, whether it is for ourself or for the trangressions of others. Forgiveness heals and sets us free. It makes the day new again, “with no mistakes in it,” as L.M. Montgomery would say. A past of anger or hurt lets go its choke-hold on us. We come again to this new moment, all full of possibility, perhaps of joy.

I saw a bunny in my back yard this evening, Rabbit, when I was going to take the trash out. I think it was a she, and I think I caught her jumping out of my garden bed! But then she stayed and ate some weeds in front of me while I talked to her. She was completely comfortable in my presence. The I asked her to wait while I got my camera. She waited until I got back and then dashed into the brambles next door. Sigh. I’ll be looking for her now and try to get her picture. She better leave my snow peas alone! 🐰

I liked his statement, too, but I know for me, when it came to forgiving someone of a great transgression, it was more that I had simply grown tired of resentment. I wasn’t looking at the future consequences, I was just tired of the way I was feeling in that moment, so I visualized a chalkboard with the resentments written on it… and I wiped it clean. I told myself the score was even, the game was new. And miraculously, it worked. I never returned to that feeling of resentment from those experiences. I’m not sure I could be so rational as to “weigh” that choice in the future… of course, he didn’t actually say that… I was influenced by the photo of the two paths that accompanied his quote.