It has been six months since my last gratitude post; some may know that I posted a weekly gratitude Friday post for over five years. I ended it as a weekly thing after 268 consecutive posts at the close of 2025. Even though the truth of the matter is that I am a lottery winner of life (figuratively) I am not naturally grateful. I need to work at it as I have what I have termed an Eeyore Brain. When it is left to its one devices I fail to see the full cup but the empty space a

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” ― Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul I have been writing these weekly posts for five years and two months. This end of year post seems like a good stopping point for now. I am going to take a break and no longer post weekly. It has been a rewarding process for me. I practiced writing and learned a great deal along the way. One gets better at anything they practice

Solstice - derived from the Latin sol ("sun") and sistere ("to stand still") We are in the darkest of days. We will pass through the Winter Solstice on Sunday, Dec 21, 2025, 10:03 AM EST. From here on out each day gets a little brighter until mid-June 2026. Those days will be bright indeed as there is travel for me on that horizon, but I digress. One of my favorite things this time of the year is seeing our home with all the warm glow of light on the mantles and front door

As a side note, last Friday was the five-year anniversary of this blog. I have written 261 weekly gratitude blogs. This is roughly equal to 130,000 words. I have more in me but perhaps not weekly. Thinking that at the end of the calendar year, I may break from weekly writing on gratitude and revisit from time to time One of the things I have done with this page is to find history that resonates with me and reflect on it. I have learned a lot in that way. In preparing this p