Gratitude Monday -- Right Here, Right Now Edition

I ran across some wise words on our recent drive through Jasper National Park.
We stopped for a pee break at Columbia Icefields.
The outdoor toilets are at the top of the large parking lot and look out toward Athabasca Glacier.
In one, the word gratitude was written in large letters. Underneath it was the sentiment you should "be grateful that you are right here, right now."

There are many layers to the remark, and all of them are true.



Athabasca Glacier:

Gratitude Monday-- Be The Marmot Edition

A marmot in the morning sun

This hoary marmot spent part of a sunny Friday morning enjoying the sunshine.

Whatever other important marmot business it had to attend to that day was either done or could wait.

Marmots sun themselves.

It is important to them.

Above, it had a rock and the sun. That's all a marmot needs for a sunbath. I presume it was living in the moment enjoying the warmth and light, and I further presume it was grateful as its current need and desire was being met.

I am grateful to have seen the creature and to have gotten its photo. I am further grateful to have the reminder to be grateful for having what I need when I need it, and to enjoy it.

It's a good reminder.

Be the marmot.

Gratitude Monday--All Avocado All The Time Edition

We are currently enjoying a blessing of avocados. We had more than a dozen in the fridge the last few days and I am grateful for each and every one of them.
Despite buying them at staggered times and as mean and green as we could find, they got together and ripened simultaneously.
Fortunately they keep in the fridge for 10 -12 days. But I was not about to let this bounty go to waste. I've experimented with them from time to time in the past and discovered that avocado tzatziki, Guacziki as my husband calls it, is wonderful.
But I wanted something different.
Sunday morning I made avocado brownies. They are creamy as all get out, but I should added more sugar. It's a formula I am happy to work on.
Later on I whipped up a batch of avocado hummus. It was pretty good. Perhaps a tad thin in that I didn't use chickpeas in it, but still it captured the flavour and that is what matters.
I am grateful my experiments turned out and I am grateful I thought to conduct them.

Avocado brownies

Gratitude Monday -- Weather's Wet And Wild Edition

We've had rain. Not as much as we need, but we have still had rain and the rain barrels are full.
I am grateful.
We've had snow in the mix, too, and that's fine. It's a May long weekend tradition.
Plus it is moisture and we are in desperate need of it.
It's been windy as well. We could do with out it, but it is there, it exists, and it is what we deal with. If we have to have wind to bring wet, then so be it.
Plants will grow.
The world will be greener.
Wet has come from the sky and for it I am grateful.

Gratitude Monday -- License To Fish Edition

We had a great day yesterday. We took some backroads south and east of Rocky, did some fishing,  saw new places,  and generally wandered around.
It was a most excellent day.
At one point in the mid-morning we fished in the Red Deer River. Just as we had packed it in to do more exploring a Fish and Wildlife Officer drove up.
He didn't have to ask to see our licenses as we started digging them out as soon as he greeted us.
I thanked him for being on the job. I am grateful regulations are enforced. They keep everyone in line and ensure the fisheries continue.
This is good.
He was based out of Sundre, that's about 50 miles south of Rocky. There aren't many F&W Officers around, and they cover a huge area and often an officer from one area can be found working in another.
Much of their work is on weekends.
It takes dedication and love to do it, and I don't think they get the respect they deserve.
During the course of the conversation he suggested a spot along the Dickson Dam that we might like and gave good, solid directions how to get to it.
We ended up going there about mid-afternoon though we couldn't drive to the exact spot as the road was closed off. I expect it will open later in the season. But we walked in a bit and tried our luck.
The fish outsmarted us and that's okay. We can try another day.  It's the experience of it that matters and it was fun.
I am grateful for that, too.

Gratitude Monday -- What They Can Edition

Within hours of the Ft. McMurray wildfire evacuation last Tuesday people were offering their help.
And not just by asking what to do and waiting for the government to organize it.  They dropped everything, figured out what needed doing, and then did it.
People all over the province gave their time, energy, and money. Trucks filled with  food, clothing, personal hygiene gear, diapers, wipes, gasoline, and numerous other items were on their way in hours. They were volunteering at evacuation centres, driving up and down lines of stalled traffic handing out food and gasoline.
Businesses did their part, too. Restaurants offered free meals to evacuees, Labatt's (a brewery) turned the profit tap off and filled cans with drinking water that it gave to evacuees and emergency responders, WestJet flew people out for free.
Mortgage payments have been put on hold for the residents, rental rules have been altered, homes have been opened, and so much more. You get the idea. Ordinary citizens did what they can as soon as they could do it and neither expect nor want anything for it.
I am grateful I live in a world where people will drop everything to help out.

Gratitude Monday --Like A Waterfall Edition

Gratitude should flow freely like a fresh mountain stream, spill down in a thunderous cascade, and spread to all parts of your life.

Watching the waterfall. Photo by my husband, Mike Mayrl .

The above is Siffleur Falls in the West County of Clearwater County, Alberta, about 20 minutes from the Banff National Park boundary.

We did this hike yesterday and I am pleased to report I only had to stop to rest once. It's four km and mostly flat, but there's one steep pitch. I ploughed on to the top of it before resting, something I don't believe I have ever been able to do.

I am grateful for the day, the hike, for only having to rest once, and for everything in general.
The difference is, I am sure, not having colorectal cancer.  I am sure I had it for years, but didn't know. The reason I am sure is I have a great deal more energy now.  Years ago I thought I was doing okay,
Today, I know it wasn't so okay.
But those days are over and I am only getting stronger and healthier.
In short: Cancer, my ass!