The Blessing of Little Things

 It's been a long time since I've thought about the blessings I receive from little things, but today, I was reminded I need to remember them. 

I was walking through the Butterfly Center at Callaway Gardens with my youngest granddaughter. As we were weaving through the beautiful plants, we came upon a pond filled with turtles. Leaning over the rail, we watched as they moved their webbed feet back and forth, gliding slowly through the water. It was such a little thing, but it brought us both joy. 

When we finished watching the turtles, we moved down the pathway and were surrounded by beautiful butterflies. Flying overhead, we saw Yellow Swallowtails, Blue Morphos, Cloudless Sulfurs, and a million other butterflies I can't name. It was beautiful and overwhelming. What brought me the most joy was watching my sweet granddaughter trying to catch a butterfly. 

I'd brought her to this butterfly center for years, and she remembered past visits where I taught her how to get a butterfly on her finger. Very patiently, she waited for a butterfly to land, then walked slowly over and slid her finger in front of it. Without moving, she waited. In just a few seconds, a butterfly was walking up her finger. She smiled a big smile and then moved her hand slowly to show me her catch. Naturally, I snapped a photo. I wanted her to remember this moment, and so did I. 

Throughout the day, we experienced one little joy after another. By the time the day was over, our hearts were full. 

Life is so short and if we don't pay attention to the blessing of little things, they'll pass us by. I hope you'll look for the little blessings that come your way. Take time to savor them. Commit them to memory! Make each one precious. When you look for them, you'll find them. I promise. 




 

Getting more mobility

It's been 8 weeks since I had my knee replaced and it has been a very challenging time. Granted, the pain and swelling have decreased, but they are still here. I'm still taking Lyrica twice daily to help manage nerve ending pain and find myself having to take extra strength Tylenol two or three times every day. I've chosen to do that instead of continuing on the opioids. 

Yesterday, my husband and I went to walk in one of our local state parks. It was hot but we were thankful for the cover of trees almost of the path. We enjoy being out in nature. We saw several deer, butterflies, and beautiful wildflowers. As we were walking along the path, we were startled to find a snake. Upon close examination, I determined it was a copperhead so we gave it a wide berth. I'm thankful we had chosen to walk on the accessible trail instead of the wooded trail. If we had been in the woods, we would not have even seen the snake! 

I was proud of myself for accomplishing a one and a half mile trek. Though difficult, I pushed myself. I know that I have to do this to get back to my normal love hiking. 

When I got home, I made sure to ice my knee for about half an hour. Icing definitely helps the swelling. 

To be honest, I'm very tired of dealing with physical issues. My body feels like it has been cut and mutilated so much since 1962! I've had a lot of surgeries and I'm ready to call it done.