Several Things I'm Thinking

 Here, let's look at Brambly Hedge again.  Smile.  Don't you want a shawl like this?  Don't her clothes look GOOD on her?  She's nice and round and SHE looks huggable!  

 In the Autumn Story, when Primrose wanders off and gets lost, she comes upon a round nest and these cutie pies are inside living cozy lives.  LOVE!

 I just realized that many of the illustrations in Jill Barklem's books depict messy scenes like this.  I guess I don't mind messy!

Next, I found this same date in a long ago Susan Branch Days journal.  I had just written in this year's SB journal, and then while ironing, I spied this.  It was when Diana died.  I was fascinated by the media coverage and I felt so sad, especially for the princes.  This was sixteen years ago, but at that time, time was now and time was standing still.

 I was constantly talking about cleaning, trying to keep up with the messes, the dirt, the swirls of life.

 I can't remember where I saw something about hedges and pottery or why it moved me at the time or why I wrote this, but I find it so fascinating that now I am indulging in Brambly Hedge and reading about pottery.  My mom and brother are learning to make pottery and I am drawn to Polish pottery just now.  What does it mean?  I like not knowing.  

 The last thing I am thinking about today is travel.  The photo above is my river (the river I grew up close to) and my mom and dad and I drove up the highway and stopped at the scenic overlooks not that many years ago.  I liked seeing the beauty that day as I enjoyed my parents' company. 
Bill has been traveling internationally for over ten years.  Do you want to know what he figured out quite quickly?  He found out that people really don't want to know much about your trips.  That is NOT what traveling is all about.  I think traveling is about allowing memories to form (Bill travels to foster relationships and encourage people).  When I travel, I am very in the moment and often quite fatigued.  After I return home I like to roll my experiences around in my mind like a rock tumbler.  I polish the memories and slot them in the fitting places of my mind.  

 Sunsets and shadows of palm trees cover me with a holy appreciation when I call them to mind.

 Trails that cut paths through trees, high up in the Rocky Mountains make me feel woodsy and clean.

The Atlantic Ocean near Maine welcomes me.  I felt very at home in Maine.  I knew I would like it and I think it is because I LOVED the book Sarah, Plain and Tall.  Sarah was from Maine and she lived with her aunts before coming out west to get married.  They loved the sea.  I will always love the sea and I will always love thinking about the sea.  
Okay, time to dash.  I'm taking the kids to the computer lab today and they love it.  I'm thankful for my classroom and all of my students' faces, all colors, all soft and dear.
I am thankful for my ponytail, even though it's skinny and kind of boring.  I am thankful for the goose I heard honking outside and the cricket that is still chirping this morning.
And I'm thankful for YOU because you are willing to read my words.  God be with you.