Thankful

{A purple coneflower from my barefooted afternoon shooting flowers in Rapid City in early October}

I find myself thankful for so much these days: the blessing of growth through God's grace, my husband's new job, finishing my master's exam (yay! passed with an A - what a blessing to be finished with it!), our sweet little dog, slightly cooler temps and time to plant some winter annuals and cabbage seedlings in my garden, our fall travels, all of our friends and family who are expecting little ones, finding courage to face my flight fears, and another Thanksgiving upon us.

I hope that you have much to be thankful for this year. I suspect that most of us do, if we just know where to look!

Impressions

I have been playing with solar print paper this week, trying to capture my ornamental grass before I chop it back to move it to a different part of the yard. I love the way the paper captures the grass so accurately and magically, the process set in motion by the bright sun. Even after the grass is bagged and gone, its delicate seeds will stay with me, captured in blue tones. It's easy to jump from noticing actual physical impressions to thinking about things that have left an impression on my heart, soul, and mind, leaving wispy traces to remain long after the events themselves have occurred. I was reminded of this yesterday at the pottery studio as I was playing catch up on glazing after my absence to study and travel this fall. The staff there uses Pandora to provide our soundtrack. All of a sudden an old Paul Simon song came on, one that I hadn't listened to in many years, and it immediately took me back to high school, when I listened to it often. I suspect music leaves such traces on many of us - along with countless other things in our years.

Capturing any impressions yourself lately?