It has been quite a while since I have expressed gratitude here.

Since then,  death and illness, sorrow and frustration, and apathy have become commonplace.

Tonight is the solstice.

Finn wanted out to go pee.  So I let him out, flipping on the deck light to warn any skunks that he was coming.

I stepped onto the deck to look at the night.

Frogs peep in the blackness.

A piece of the moon makes an inky glow.

Somewhere out there,

In the warm void,

A flicker of light

My heart leaps

Staring down I didn’t realize what they could mean to me

But they are here

They are back to remind me that

Life is and will always be

Beauty and wonder.

 

I am thankful for my lovely children, and my gentle wife, and my loyal dog, and my friends and colleagues at work.  I am thankful for my extended family and Olalla and this big wondrous crazy voyage that is life.

I am thankful for the fireflies.