Giving Thanks

On this the eve of our day of Thanksgiving, I wanted to share with you a small list of the things I'm grateful for.

I am grateful for woods,

and meadows,

and miles of swamps to explore.

For cold mountain streams,

and high rocky cliffs,

and endless horizons.

For birds that soar overhead,

and bison that roam free upon the plains.

For elk in the morning sun,

and deer in my own backyard.

For the little ones who will brave our presence for a peanut,

and the snakes in the grass.

I am grateful for glorious sunsets,

and the softness of the moon rising over water,

and especially for spectacular birthday sunrises.

But mostly I am grateful for mothers,

for beautiful, barefooted friends on the beach,

and for those who hold hearts in their hands.

Thank you for making this world a most wondrous and beautiful place.

"In wilderness people can find the silence and the solitude and the non-cilivized surroundings that can connect them once again to their evolutionary heritage, and through an experience of the eternal mystery, can give them a sense of the sacredness of all creation."

Sigurd Olson