2022, Family, holidays, Uncategorized, Weather

Being Thankful

34 Comments

I am feeling pretty thankful. My friend is doing well after her surgery, I made it home from Minnesota safely, Grandson loved the candy and toy trucks we gave him for Easter, the bell choir played well on Sunday morning, and Husband didn’t have a heart attack shoveling the voluminous amount of snow that was in our driveway. Our kind neighbor across the street was excited to use his new snow blower, and cleared our driveway.

Last summer I prepared peach pie filling and froze it for pies in the winter. I also had pie crusts I had made in the freezer. I made a peach pie. Husband made Czech Easter bread (neighbors are Czech), and we took them to the neighbor and his wife Sunday afternoon to thank them for clearing the driveway. They were happy and we were thankful. It was a good Easter.

What acts of kindness and generosity have you noted lately? How do you like to show your thanks? What are your feelings about thank you cards? How do you like Scrabble?

34 thoughts on “Being Thankful”

  1. Polish people taking Ukrainian refugees into their homes. And then, making way for others fleeing, those folks moving on to being taken into German homes.
    Jelly Bellies. The small packs are just the right size as thank you gifts.
    Love Scrabble! National Scrabble Day was last week, April 13.

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        1. I know all about Jelly Bellies disappearing. Most jelly beans I do not like—too sugary, not enough flavor. But jelly bellies? I eat the entire package no matter what the size is. A small pack might be the answer.

          Liked by 4 people

        3. But lucky me, they have the small packs of the licorice mix in stock, so I ordered a box of those. Now I just need to find a safe place to hide them so husband doesn’t eat them all in one sitting. My underwear drawer has worked well thus far.

          Liked by 4 people

  2. I was also going to mention Europeans taking in Ukrainian refugees.

    I say “Thank you” a lot. I’m also a huge believer in sending thank you notes, especially professionally. Everyone else seems to use social media or email to communicate, so when a book store owner gets a TY note in the mail, they remember me (One even mentioned how surprised/pleased she was to get a physical note).

    To me, being polite and appreciative generates good karma.

    I like Scrabble well enough but rarely play. My wife’s not a word nerd so she rarely plays word games with me. Although she’s hooked on Wordle. Personally, I don’t see what the attraction is and why it has become so popular. I’ll stick with crossword puzzles.

    Chris in Owatonna

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    1. I think it’s because of how it’s limited to that one word a day, thus limiting the time involved. I tried the new one with 6 letters instead of 5, and nearly went bonkers – just too many possibilities – so will stick with Wordle.

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        3. For that Quordle word, I was fortunate to have eliminated four of the six possible consonants in the first two guesses. Of the remaining two, I guessed the wrong one first.

          Liked by 1 person

        4. By the time I got to that last Quordle word I had three choices left. Got it right on the second guess.

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  3. Winona’s Sanctuary Network et al. have taken in three Afghan families to days, finding housing, and had already helped out a couple of Mexican families last spring. The energy of the people most active in these organizations, and the generosity of “just plain folks”, is astounding.

    I like to post on Facebook moving stories of some random act of kindness… spread these ideas of what can be done by ordinary people just passing through their lives.

    I do like sending “hard copy” thank you notes when I can. Makes me stop and think a bit of what I’m appreciating, and choose a card to “match” the person I’m thanking. That said, I’m also thankful for being able to send (and receive) emails if I can’t get to the note cards.

    Scrabble – was fun to play with my mom, but now Wordle is more appropriate for our attention span!

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  4. Ditto to the Europeans taking in Ukranian refugees. Also am thankful to communities who are helping Afgan refugees.

    I prefer to both send and receive actual Thank You notes. Email seems so impersonal, though I have reverted to it a couple of times.

    I enjoy playing Scrabble but don’t play it too often. When staying with a friend at her lake cabin, we usually play several games. I’m avoiding Wordle and other similar online games.

    Per Jacque’s request, here is a bit about the hot air balloon ride. There were 8 passengers total – including a dad who had surprised his 9 year old daughter. He told her they were going out for pancakes on Easter morning (the pick up point was an iHop). When she found out what they were actually going to do, she jumped up and down, whooping and hollering. We launched just as the sun was coming up and flew over residential areas and a bit of the Tucson Mountains, including the White Stallion Ranch. After just over an hour, we landed very softly in a newly harvested alfalfa field, where we were served the traditional champagne (Mimosa) brunch. Other than some limited conversation, it was very peaceful in the balloon. Because it travels the same speed as the wind, there is no breeze to speak of. The air was warmer aloft than on the ground. The only slightly difficult part was getting into the basket. We had to climb a couple of footholds get in – easy for tall(er) folks but I am barely 5″2″ and my friend isn’t even 5 feet tall. Getting out was easier. It was a memorable Easter morning.

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  6. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I most often say thanks these days with a text or email. I do write thank you notes for something big, but otherwise I just am not a reliable card mailer. Not like VS, for example. This habit is something I admire so much in others, but it does not seem possible for me to do. It is important that we say thank you in some fashion or the other.

    Before my mother’s brain started it’s decline, she was a big Scrabble player. I was never very good at Scrabble, and I did not enjoy spending time with her in that way and she relished being in full control on the board.

    Much of the world has seemed a hostile and ungenerous in the last years. #45 seemed to embody that and exacerbate such attitudes. There are so many examples of whole hearted generosity with the Ukrainian refugees, that it does seem to redeem and challenge so much of the hostility.

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  7. I was first introduced to Scrabble in Moscow in 1964. I loved it then, and I still do, though I rarely get a chance to play it anymore.

    We were four people who played once a week. We paired up as teams of two, rotating partners every week – probably because nobody wanted to get stuck playing with me all the time – although they were polite enough to never admit that. It was great fun, and I learned a lot of words. I still think of two of those players from time to time, and wonder what became of them. Oddly, I have no recollection of who the third person was.

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    1. Take down feeders?
      Any particular reason?
      I just came out of Wild Birds with two large cylinders.
      Yesterday, I finally had a cowbird attend.
      Rather unusual in a downtown setting.
      Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other species.

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  10. I notice acts of kindness all the time, every day. I look for them because the world seems unusually angry and aggressive lately. There is always light where there is dark; sometimes we just have to look for it.

    I see generosity every day from my dear friend Pam. She made up Easter baskets for a couple of needy and possibly neglected kids who live near her. She gave me flowers and took me out for lunch (no need to look very hard for that kindness). She does things for others daily and I admire her for it. I do have to set firm boundaries with her though. She would give me the moon if she had it.

    I’ve noticed many people in this area are concerned and they like to look out for missing or lost pets. Northfield is full of people who volunteer and care for others. From the Citizens Action Center to the Northfield Union of Youth, there are people who work to make others’ lives better. I try to always notice and remember the good things.

    I love to send handwritten thank you cards and I have plenty of cards and envelopes. All I need is a little time. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude when people think of me or do something for me. I don’t know if I can thank them enough. A card is the least I can do.

    I haven’t played Scrabble in many years. I enjoy any game with words. I agree with those who have not branched out to the many alternative online games besides Wordle. I just don’t have time! Last night I couldn’t sleep and my mind just went to Wordle and I kept thinking of lists of 5-letter words. I generated quite a long list while lying there between 2 and 4 a.m. Then I fell asleep and could only remember a few. They’ll come back.

    The Europeans who are helping the Ukrainians are truly good humans. They and the incredibly courageous Ukrainians themselves are living proof that humanity is still good.

    I’m so grateful for all the goodness.

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  11. Sometimes I’m reading and come across a five-letter word, and stop and admire it as I consider its possibilities as a Wordle first guess. (“Media”…three vowels, two fairly common consonants…maybe I’ll try that one”.) It reminds me of a time many years go when Tetris was all the rage. I remember talking with a friend about how it could make you see Tetris patterns in floor tiles.

    I just got a thank-you note in the mail today. It was for a small retirement gift I sent to my favorite doctor, who is retiring. It was well written and genuine.

    I sometimes intend to write a thank-you note for something, but I want it to be well-written and genuine, not just something dashed off hastily, so I procrastinate, and after some time has passed it seems like I missed the moment, so I don’t do it. I’m sort of a failure at thank-you notes.

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    1. My mother in law considers it a huge black mark to not send a thank you note. Her attitude makes me resentful about sending her thank you notes, but I always send her ones one out of fear.

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  13. As to Scrabble, I do love it. Whether I’m any good at or not depends heavily on what my luck is like when I’m drawing the tiles. These days I keep some Scrabble tiles nearby when I’m working on the Wordle/Quordle/Octordle/WordHurdle challenges of the day. It helps to put the tiles on the little wooden tile rack and move them around.

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