Do you think about the past? About the future? I write memoir, so I think a lot about the past. But my stories are made from my journey away from the past as well as my return to it. So, you see, I go back and forth in time as I write.
But what about the present? Isn’t that important too?
I think so. That’s why I’ve included some recent snapshots here as a way to preserve the present, to keep a record of what’s going on now.
1. Grandfather and grandson working in the kitchen together.
2. Healthy dinner — enough to share with you: chicken with saffron and rice; carrot-raisin salad, Cole slaw, broccoli, and beets
3. Neighbor who’s moving bequeathes a dragon plant to me. It ends up as decor in my daughter’s laundry room.
4. A tip on remembering stuff
5. Our straw-hatted son helps us tame the growth in our preserve at the end of growing season.
6. Grateful for harvest . . . and more than enough to share
7. Another burst of happiness, this one courtesy of my sister Jean
8. Afternoon shadow as sunlight wanes
9. Soothing sounds of a waterfall in a backyard landscape. The Magnolia Bed & Breakfast is located in Gainesville, Florida near the University of Florida, where our two oldest grandsons are in the midst of their senior year.
David Whyte in “Everything is Waiting for You” urges us to pay attention, along with others, naming blessings large and small in this poem
Credit: Inspirational Images
Do you have a preference among the photos in the group?
Good morning, Marian! It’s funny, but I just read a post that shared someone’s photos from the past, and now yours from the present. It is good to be reminded of both. I like your cheery teakettle in the background in your first photo.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! xx
The polka-dots on the teakettle make me happy too. May you and your family have a joyous Thanksgiving this year, Merril!
These are all wonderful photos. They may be of the present, but they will soon be of the past. I am forever thankful for photographs to keep memories alive. My favourite is grandfather and grandson working in the kitchen together. What a super memory that will be. Enjoy your Thanksgiving, Marian!
Gratitude is the key to happiness, I think you will agree. I don’t think people in Spain formally celebrate Thanksgiving, but I think of Spanish culture as cheerful and happy.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about photos, Darlene! 😀
Hi,
I love this post. It shows some of the many ways that we can be thankful. Especially the pic with the one about ice cream. Although I am not a cold weather fan, I love ice cream and can eat it anytime of the year.
The pic with Psalm 107:1 touched my heart. I’ve written a song about that verse and sometimes I awake singing it.
Have a happy Thanksgiving. I will be celebrating it with many veterans here in Germany. We get together every year, and it is always a pleasure to be among them. For that, I am truly thankful.
Take care.
Shalom shalom
Pat, I wonder if I’ve heard the song you wrote about Psalm 107:1. What a joyful way to awaken. I’m glad you can celebrate Thanksgiving with veterans. What a pleasure! 😀
Good morning Marian, I love everything you posted here–photos and comments and all, and especially the poem. Wow! Best wishes for a good Thanksgiving and friends like you!
You and I have a lot to be thankful for again this year. And you, especially, with a new book published recently, A Place in the Fold: https://www.amazon.com/Place-Fold-Melodie-Miller-Davis/dp/B0FZ8WXG7R/
Awww, thanks for the mention here! Blessings.
Marian, what a delightful post! What a lovely meal! I prefer all of the photos you shared, because they are a colorful tapestry of your family and your desire to share joy and thanksgiving with us. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. (P.S. The plant you were given reminds me of hands raised in worship.)
I like how you describe my collection of photos: “colorful tapestry of your family.” And I also noticed your observation about the plant. Whenever I see it at Crista’s house, I will think of hands raised in worship. Thanks, L. Marie! 😀
Good! Happy Thanksgiving!
I LOVE the David Whyte poem, particularly the second stanza. I’ve saved the poem in my Poems for Troubled Times folder. Grandfather and grandson working in the kitchen takes the prize as favorite photo.
Ha, Liz, I have a desktop folder for poems and other quotes too. Thanks for checking in here–always with thoughtful comments! 😀
I feasted on each photo and poem, and the poem is one I am copyinng to ponder more. Thank you Marian. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Thanks for being so throughly immersed in this post. You are such a thoughtful person: I can imagine you pondering the David Whyte poem. And thanks for the good wishes! Dolores! 😀
The photos are all so beautiful, Marian, I can’t pick a favorite one. Thanks for making us aware of how lovely the world around us is. It’s not to be taken for granted. There are many walking among rubble, in despair….
Yes, the world is lovely, but there is rubble to reckon with. Our missionary friend, Kathy Gould, keeps ministering to the hurting people in Ukraine. Even as bombs fell, she continued with a family retreat for veterans, even providing a psychologist for them: https://www.facebook.com/kathy.gould.355
Lovely photos, Marian, but my favorite is the one of Cliff and your grandson working together in the kitchen. I don’t dwell on my age, but I do think about the future, mainly that of our son, daughter-in-law, our grandson, and the planet. The way people speak to each other, especially online, is so disrespectful. Still, I’m buoyed by the knowledge that behavior is balanced by countless other kind souls.
I got a good laugh from wallet, glasses, keys, and phone because that is pretty much my checklist whenever I leave the house. I would make it much easier on myself if I always left them in the same spot whenever I wasn’t using them. I’ve only learned to do that with my keys.
I’m with you, Pete! I try to stay away from people with “flammable” language online. There are still a lot of kind souls, some of which gather here.
About the checklist: I was worried that my absent-mindedness is related to age, but this morning our grandson, who just turned 22, remarked that not ago he was looking for his phone–and lo and behold he “found” it in his hand. LOL 😀
I like how there is enough food to share with us, Marian! Yum, thank you. But seriously, it makes memoir easier if you capture the present. Today is future fuel for stories and you have documented it. And it’s lovely to see a family helping each other. ❤️ Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thanks for sharing your home and family.
And the very best to you and your family, Melanie.
You are right: ” Today is future fuel for stories.” 😀
Wow, grandson is getting big!!! Time flies. I’m grateful for spending it with my husband and my dog, living a life of adventure. 🙂
I recently made your “best ever salad dressing” of which you posted a photo on your table a while ago. Question: do you leave this dressing out of the fridge? I’ve been putting it in the fridge (as we can’t leave things out when driving), but it really hardens and coagulates. So, I was wondering where you kept/stores it.
Yes, youngest grandson is almost as tall as Cliff.
It’s nice to know you feel contented with both your travel partners: canine and human, a blessing during this season.
About the salad dressing: I keep it on the counter, just where I photographed it. I imagine it would harden in the fridge. 😀
All the photos and thoughts are beautiful, Marian! I have to remember wallet, glasses, key and phone. I do check those four things before heading out the door. What a helpful son you have. I’m glad you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Miriam, I just read your “Happy Thanksgiving” note to your readers.
Thanks for showing up here often and always with an appropriate comment. May your enjoy this day! 😀
All your “present” photos are great, but I think my favorite is of your son “taming” the preserve. There’s something about seeing our ‘children,’ now adults, that is breathtaking, isn’t there? Great pride that we raised these human beings. And I’m sure you feel the same about your grandchildren. We were/are part of their upraising – we gave/give them unconditional love as only grandparents can do.
I copied and saved your Head Shoulder Knees and Toes variation – as a fun coincidence when I taught my Monday creative writing class last week (all women, all 55+) suddenly all of us began singing that childhood song! (Writing to one of my prompts in class, a student mentioned something about her shoulder and her knees, and viola, we were all standing up and singing the song. Powerful, our memories. I’ll share your variation in my class this coming Monday. 🙂
I relate to the idea that our “upraised” children are willing to bless us with their mighty acts. Just today grandson helped set up the Christmas tree (in water, for now) and our son tweaked the security system lights outside–tough for their techno-challenged parents.
For sure, I look forward to hearing more about your creative-writing class. You obviously have excellent rapport, your students spontaneously singing the “Head and Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” song. 😀
In a few minutes our grandson and granddaughter are helping us at the Christmas tree farm to pick up the tree and bring it home. Aren’t we lucky?
Thank you, Marian, for this beautiful post. These peeps into your life are always interesting. It’s nice to see a picture of your son. Sons are a blessing.
Sons are a blessing. And yours is an author too.
I’m glad you are enjoying my pictorial snippets. It’s always good to hear from you, Robbie! 😀
🥰, Michael is also an artist. He’s better at drawing than me.
Yes, he’s done many beautiful illustrations. How lovely to see our children emulate us–and go beyond.
Yes, it is great 😊
Wonderful captured moments in time Marian. Our now become the stories of the future. 😊 And I loved the Whyte excerpt as well as the beautiful inherited dragon plant! xx
Yes, you and I use “now” moments to tell future stories, just as you did with your entertaining “car” episode–ha!
Hi Marian – it’s so nice to see your present-day pictures too, because they are memories in the making. Love the quote about wallet, glasses, keys and phone 😉
Best definition of photos ever: “memories in the making”!
Thanks, Barb. 😀