...for that, all of that, I am thankful...

Squirrel acrobats stir nearly bare tree branches in the still, morning light. Frost whiskers etch the to and fro, late-season mowing patterns across the field just beyond the trees outside my window. My mind pauses, I breathe from atmosphere swathed around our planet as do all my species, and uncountable others, awakening in this revolution of our globe. It is our turn to launch our day.

Across the Appalachias, the great rivers, the prairies, the Rockies, great-grandson Dimetrios struggles again to get well. Special nursing, doctoring, medicine, love, and prayers have moved him tentatively past the worst. We all join hearts, keeping him close.

Here, in the apartments, the rooms, the corridors, the dwellings, a school, the grounds, a community lives. Yes, nearly all, save the family portion and staff, see the tail end not too far off, some closer, some more distant; each with their own stories, each breathing from this same atmosphere, each launching the day set before them.

*

My laptop and iPhone are still in disharmony. Managing my frustration takes energy I wish to spend in other ways. John promises to help sort it out when we can get together with these two instruments. In the meantime, only photos or video that arrived on my laptop from email or text and already downloaded are part of this post. I can't budge my photos on my iPhone.

Wendy texted Toby and one of the chickens sharing Toby's breakfast...

*

Aidan has been very active with his cello and played a solo that took place during one of last Sunday's PYO concert pieces. John texted a snap he caught of Aidan's moment at the final bow when the conductor acknowledges solo parts...

You rock, Aidan!
Note the balcony...Bravo Brass, another of Phila Orchestra's youth musicians, was up there adding to the drama of Pines of Rome as was Kimmel Center's magnificent organ.

While Aidan's moment was taking place, his brother Keoni was back playing viola a second weekend with the NY Phil.

*

I am astonished as my children, grand children and great-grand children's lives unfold, and humbled by how the lives and the love of our families and friends touches us in so many ways, their triumphs, their challenges, their joys, their sorrows. All. And that is everything.

As I walked back to the train, it was already night...everything around me seemed so special...

...and for that, all of that, I am thankful.