A Friday Five about Gratitude

Over at Rev Gal Blog Pals, Jan says, "A wise person once told me to make an ABC list of things I am grateful for any time I feel sad or depressed. It is a good practice when one is feeling happier than that, too. So for this Friday Five, I suggest that you use your name or nickname of about five letters and express your gratitude about something that starts with each letter. Some people have longer names, so you decide how you will go about this! (Last names, middle names, and nicknames count!)"

Since my name is six letters, that's close enough!  Here's my list:  Feel free to join me.

D.  Daffodills are my favorite flower.  I've always liked them because of the vivid color and the little "trumpet" shape (that says "rejoice" to me) but I have grown even more fond of them living in a snowy, "up north" state.  Winters are long and monochromatic and about April we start watching (it's way too early, but we watch anyhow) for some sign of color.  Usually by May we see the daffodills and tulips poking up.  It is like a peal of song, a ray of light, a glimpse of joy and hope after a difficult time.  I like dandilions too, but that's another issue...

O.  Hmmm...how about...organ music?  I remember the first time I heard the music I'm about to share.  I was about 12 years old, and pipe organs (being from a very simple Baptist church) were not generally part of my life.  What is more majestic than a really big, beautiful, organ played by someone skilled?  It's almost enough to make a low-church woman into a high-church one.  The video is pretty long, but have a listen to at least a bit of this glorious music!



R.  Rhubarb!  If you go to my cooking blog The Owl's Kitchen and look up my Strawberry Rhubarb pie recipe, you wil see this at the top: "I remember my first taste of rhubarb. I was about 10 and had never heard of it, but I was served a bowl of warm rhubarb sauce at the famous fried chicken restaurant at Knott's Berry Farm, Anaheim, California. I thought it was about the most wonderful thing I'd ever tasted, and I told my mother I could not understand why we had never had it before. She had never tasted it either. We had a large and healthy stand of it by our mobile home at Trinity Bible College, and I've since learned that it is beloved in the cold states."  I go on, and finally get around to posting the recipe.  You can find several others ( rhubarb ones, I mean) at that blog too. 

C.  Children are one of the greatest blessing I can imagine.  I miss my children.  I love the adult versions, of course, but I miss the child versions.  I am so glad for Trinity (age 4, and spoken of often in this blog) and now little Noah, aged one month.  Post and pictures coming soon!

A.  Apricots.  We used to have an apricot tree back in CA where I grew up.  Haven't had a really good one since I left the state about 35 years ago!

S.  Song.  I had a much longer post, and I don't know why but somehow the A and the S disappeared. So, I have to rush and can't explain. I'll just leave it at, "What is life without a song?"