Tuesday 1 November:
I am going to do a Thankful Tuesday and Thursday for the
month of November 2022. Since today is also Celtic New Year, I am starting off
with grateful for Celtic Heritage. I enjoy Celtic music. Not going to listen to
bagpipes all day long but do enjoy it at times. The myths and legends are
interesting. The Rice family name was originally from Wales with spelling Rhys.
Some moved north into Scotland and spelling got changed. Some eventually found
their way to Nova Scotia and then to USA.
It is also booklovers day. I do enjoy reading. I am
thankful for authors and them sharing their talent be it fan fiction or
published. Mary Morgan writes about Celtic myths and warriors. Today would be
good day to read one of her books. Have a great day!
Thursday 3 November:
Grateful for friends. Some come and help when have big
project. Some are supportive long distance. Some are artists and authors and
share their talents for good entertainment. Keep in contact with some more
frequently than others. All are dear to me. Thank you for your friendship. Have
a great day!
Tuesday 8 November:
Thankful to be able to vote in local and national
elections. Not sure how honest the candidates are these days, but I do have
confidence that the voting process is good. Here in Washington state you
register when you get driver’s license and voting is all by mail. Easy. Safe. The
ballot drop off box is close. I was getting some frozen desert and watched them
pick up ballots for the primary. Looked secure to me.
I pray that all will be safe while voting - the people staffing the polling places, the voters, and those counting the ballots.
Thursday 10 November:
Since tomorrow is Veterans Day it is fitting to be grateful
for the heritage of serving in the military. My mother’s father and brother served
after Pearl Harbor bombing. My father and his older brother also enlisted after
Pearl Harbor. They all went into the Army or Army Air Corp. His younger brother
eventually went into the Navy. One of my mother’s aunts was in the Marine Corp,
I’m not sure of when she served. Two cousins went into the Marine Corp. My
brother enlisted into the Army during Viet Nam War. I went into the Air Force a
few years later. A grandnephew enlisted into the Air Force. Being military
dependent was my first ‘tribe’ I felt I belonged in. That is the reason that
one of my Facebook profile picture, including the current one, is the USAF tartan.
[My two cousins and grandnephew and I are only ones still alive.]
Tuesday 15 November:
My faith and membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Faith and hope fluctuate, but always there no matter how small and flickering. It is so comforting to know no matter where I go when I find a church it will be the same meeting set up, same Sunday School lesson. There is an immediate community and help when needed and opportunities to be of service. I could not have made this move from San Jose to Sequim without the help of some members at both ends of move. My life would have been vastly different if I had not joined the Church back in 1974. My faith fits the doctrine of the Church. I have a testimony that Joseph Smith, Jr translated the Book of Mormon and restored the Church of Jesus Christ on earth.
Thursday 17 November:
Reading The Book of Mormon changed my life. Reading
Twilight changed my life. I had been depressed and numb for a long while before
reading that first book in the saga. Reading that book I felt things that I
hadn’t in long time. Thankful to Jill Juchau for loaning me the books. I’ve
traveled and met people never would have. I’ve made friends. Reading it and
coming to area gave me a place to retire to that feels like home. In round
about way brings my life full circle since I was born in Tacoma area.
Tuesday 22 November:
Today I am especially gratefully for being a reader. I grew
up with books. My parents read. My brother read. I read. When I was about 9
years old I would borrow my brother’s Tom Swift Jr books and that was my
introduction to science fiction. Summers would be spent with at least weekly
bike rides to the library. I would grab a volume of the encyclopedia set we had
and just pick and choose sections to read. I could get lost reading about words
from the dictionary. I confess to spending too much time reading on occasion. I
like having a physical book to read, but for past few years digital copy with
font size adjustments is nice. It is a joy to visit other places and times via
a book. Science fiction and mysteries are my favorite and returning to those
after too many years of almost only reading Twilight fan fiction. Fan fiction
is wonderful. Fill in back story. Give a minor character a bigger part. Twist
the characters a little and change the situation and see what happens. Delightful
and amazing to read what authors come up with. Open your mind and read.
Thursday 24 November:
Grateful for lots of little things. Love of music. Can’t
dance or sing or play an instrument, but I enjoy listening to music and those
that can do those things need people in the audience. Love of nature and
opportunities to get out and take pictures to share.
And big things like having a home, moving to the Pacific
Northwest – specifically Sequim Washington. My faith and love of reading
already mentioned along with friends. My health isn’t great, but I am still
moving around on my own power. My calling as Relief Society Secretary.
Happy Thanksgiving Day. May all be blessed with safe
travels, good company, and good food.
Tuesday 29 November:
For this last entry I am grateful for the life I’ve had –
good, bad, sad, ugly. Parents did the best they could. Military dependent life and
my own military service gave me experience traveling and living in different
places, including four years in other countries. Through the years I’ve met
lots of different people in those places, lost track of most of them. Joined
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Left the military and became a
pharmacist. Moved around in that career some. Active for a while in the
Scottish community and science fiction con community in San Jose. Read
Twilight. Retired and moved from California to Sequim Washington – in ways
coming full circle as I was born in Tacoma area. Parts have been more
interesting than others. Moved through too many years in a functional depressed
state. I’m still here, grown older, not sure about wiser. Body doesn’t work
like it use to and hard adjusting at times, but I’m still mobile. There is much
to be grateful for – big, little, in between things. May God bless us all with
peace, love, and joy.
