two :: If it Wasn't for the Taxis

None of the taxis I took today dropped me off at the right location. One of them misunderstood me and then we were locked in by one way streets so he couldn't rectify the mistake. Another jumped out of his car at a spotlight to inspect what was in fact a very flat tire. So, then we had to get out and transfer to a new one, the fare starting over again of course. The third guy decided it wasn't convenient to go all the way in to the grocery store I was trying to reach, so we were dumped out on the side of a busy road with the big red letters of our destination at least perceivable from our distance.

Then I came home and our camera cord was (and is) missing. I'm pretty sure the fault lies somewhere within the span of a plump little 18 month old hand, but I can't prove it and so she remains innocent until proven otherwise. I'm really wishing I could interrogate her though... find out which garbage dump to dig through or which hidden crevice of separated floor boards to press my nose against. It's just plain annoying to lose stuff like that.

After an spending half the day running around (when I had planned to be riding pretty, taxi-style) and getting errands done (the shoes I returned and exchanged for smaller sizes STILL didn't fit when we got home), I am kind of worn out. Trying to pour out thanksgiving right now just sounds exhausting. I did think quite a bit about it today though. It has certainly helped me to start lifting my gaze again and not dwell on all the kind of things I just spent my opening lines dwelling on. I can be sort of a hypocrite.

The best part of this whole day was the morning. The sun rose glorious. It was like all that rain and nasty blowing yesterday just wiped the earth clean and sparkled the glassy skies so we could behold their color. The light just bounced and played off of every conceivable surface, soaring back up to the source where it came from and taking my spirit right along with it. Why are we so incredibly affected by the weather? Really, all our aesthetic surroundings have a profound affect on us, but it is the weather we so often talk of and draw attention to. We even use words like "oppressive" to describe heat or "refreshing" to speak of a warm summer rain. I know it didn't have to happen and sometimes we have to endure weeks on end of miserable weather, but oh how grateful I was for that sunrise today.

Also:

• A morning run along the ocean, waters glistening and sparkling like a thousand diamonds blanketing the rocking sea. 
• The recalling of a favorite passage in an old book, and the comfort it brought as I wrestled with thoughts of why He gives to some and not to others and how to be thankful for what is given to me.
• The sweet idea that played in my head of how I answer the peppery, probing questions of my son and how much God must be like that... giving part but not the whole picture because I just can't wrap my head around it yet. And so those things that seem hard to understand about him, I can be okay with not fully knowing.
• A hot water heater that started working again.
• The joy of learning to knit, of using my hands to make something that will last, and the pleasure of overcoming challenges and feeling like I'm learning something even when it's hard. 
• fresh vegetables that don't cost a fortune, soy milk and mango smoothies... and carrot muffins in the morning.