Gratefulness

I'm grateful my dog's foot missed these new sprouts literally by a hair!

Yesterday I got Robert Genn's twice-weekly letter about being grateful from his blog , The Painter's Keys.  I heartily thank you, Robert!  It promised to be a hectic day of artistic errands instead of painting, which usually puts a wrinkle in my brow for the day.  His letter completely changed my attitude and turned what could have been a harried day into one of pleasure.  As I finished reading his letter, I looked out the window from my computer and saw new sprouts breaking ground in a row of zipper peas in my garden due to a nice rain we'd had the previous night.  Gratefully, I took out my camera and took a picture of them. Would I have "seen" them in my previous state of mind? As I did, a photographer friend from down the street showed up to take pictures of the butterflies on the volunteer zinnias that bless my abundant garden.  We gratefully shared a brief time while I unloaded my car in preparations for the 3-hour trip I had to make to retrieve artwork from a gallery today.  I knew I would have a full load picking up a fellow artist's six pastels as well as my own ten or so paintings, several 'Spirits in Stone', some wire sculptures, prints and notecards.  The gallery is changing it's focus to double its' classroom size and promote the art of the two owners.  The economy is affecting everyone!  I am grateful that I can still do what I love to do. I wished them well, grateful that all our paperwork matched and everything fit into my car.  I made a quick phone call to Preston, whose pastels I had, and luckily he was having lunch with Peter, another of my paint buddies, not too far off my route home.  I met up with them and shared a glass of tea and some laughs while Preston retrieved his work from my car.  I'm so grateful for art friends... they 'get it'...they understand...they keep me reaching for the next level! Stopped at 'A Novel Experience', the bookstore that held a show for my plein air group, to retrieve a small painting and deliver some promotional material for the fall show I'm coordinating for my local art alliance. I'm grateful to have venues that welcome and promote my artwork!
Home again, after adding a few groceries to the car, to a full answering machine.  My husband showed up about the same time.  He is an independent cuss like me, so I'm grateful that he 'gets it', too!  We check all the mail and phone calls and head back out to meet the couple we have selected to rent our old farm house on five acres.  I'm grateful that we took applications until we found what we hope will be a responsible couple who will take good care of the property.  We have learned from past mistakes, folks!  I took pictures of the house while we were there, grateful that the previous tenant left the house in spotless condition.... and believe me, that is something to be grateful about!
Home again with a glass of wine on the porch while the charcoal fires up.  Late supper tonight, but grateful that it includes fresh veggies from our garden... grilled zucchini, zipper peas, okra, tomatoes and baby bell peppers.
No TV tonight.  We both have computer work to do to finish up the day around 10:30.  Reading a few pages in bed before gratefully dropping off to sleep.

Thank you again, Robert, for making me aware that being grateful is the key to making each day a successful entity unto itself.  I can only live one at the time anyway.  I look back on the day and can see how each thing I did could have been a hassle.  Attitude makes the difference!  Sound sappy?  So what!