I love Thanksgiving week. So many wonderful childhood memories and always new memories to make each year. This year my husband and I did our annual Thanksgiving morning walk at the golf course. It’s a great spot for a brisk walk. This year our walk was under cloudy skies, but I was just as grateful for it as I would have been under a sunny blue sky. “Grateful for it all” was the theme of so many Instagram Thanksgiving posts, and I have to agree. I am finally learning to be grateful for it ALL. Each morning another day of life unfolds, and I feel it’s my new found purpose in life to actually “experience” it all. Retirement gives us that gift. It was mostly of my own making, but while I was working I was too busy, too preoccupied to fully experience my own life…always thinking ahead or regretting something that had already passed. I don’t want to be that person anymore. But, honestly, it’s work.

So for this post, I want to focus on some of the things I am so thankful for in the spirit of this Thanksgiving week. There are so many things, but these are the things that stand out. When I reflect on them, they are the observations, the lessons, the joys, the serendipitous glimpses and the deliberate pauses I often take to remind myself that my life as it is is just plain enough. And enough is beautiful.

So here we go.

I am thankful for…

Long walks filled with noticing birds busy with their instinctive tasks, trees holding on to last leaves, families coming and going, changing skies, and my strong sense of place.

Watching my dachshund prance around in her neon-lit collar during her late evening walk under a star-filled sky, breathing the night air deeply into my lungs before both our bedtimes.

Morning texts with Dena, Lauren, Laurie, and Brenda through every season, wishing each other happy and productive days, describing plans to look forward to, sharing memes and little jokes along with Wordle scores and just-in-time advice and support as needed. This sisterhood of wise and funny women is the bedrock for so much joy in my life.

Spotify playlists that fit every mood and occasion, some songs with lyrics that sing what’s in my heart or on my mind so poignantly that they are played over and over.

Phone calls with my brother and sister-in-law, chatting about our shared past, sharing complex memories of those who have left us, and how we continue to navigate the ordinary days of our lives, as family.

So many books, my new retirement best friends. Reading challenges, nourishes, and entertains me. These books enrich my days with new perspectives, deep thoughts, places to explore, resonant emotions of kindred characters, shared humanity, and of course, laughter, tears, and downright awe at the wonder of stories.

British everything…cups of tea, The Archers, Acorn TV, Britbox, old Sherlock Holmes black and white movies, and carrying on my mother’s very English holiday traditions that Thanksgiving signals it’s time to begin again.

My book group friends, Maddie and Mary Lynn with whom I’ve have shared about 40 years of history and the bonds of abiding friendship.

My online women’s writing group friends who inspire me to be a better writer, a more thoughtful and realistic sojourner as I age, and a stronger and more grateful woman in each and every moment.

Each and every moment of shared joy and unconditional love from my husband. He continues to be the greatest blessing in my life.

And of course, dear readers, I am thankful for all of you, sharing The Precious Days with me through these posts and your thoughtful comments. Thank you all so much.

What are you most thankful for this year?