thank you notes 2/1
i'm thankful that though i spent too long writing my notes yesterday afternoon, i still finished in time to go running outside before dinner. i'm thankful to think that's worth the handful of typos i left in the wake of my rush to be done. i'm thankful for the first run i've had outside in a couple of months. i'm thankful it was 63 degrees on the last day of january. i'm thankful that for the vestigial plows attached to trucks parked along the curbs of our snowless streets. i'm thankful that the air smelled like weed smoke near the volunteer fire station. i'm thankful that i ran up a long steep hill north of town without stopping, even if that made the rest of my run harder. i'm thankful for the running route i chose, which is a harder workout in terms of elevation change but is quieter and prettier and less familiar. i'm thankful for the dormant trees in someone's backyard which were wrapped in plastic sheets to shield them from the elements. i'm thankful that though i turned my ankle while trying to avoid colliding with an overzealous dog on the rail trail, i didn't twist or sprain it or fall and i recovered quickly. i'm thankful for the last little mounds of dirt-caked and exhaust-stained snow melting in the shade of fences and buildings and around the pylons in the parking lot at the grocery store.
i'm thankful for the dinner i made last night, which i didn't have high expectations for but which was very satisfying. i'm thankful that trimming green beans is never as much of an ordeal as i imagine it's going to be when i set out to do it (i'm thankful for sharp knives). i'm thankful for the green beans, which were 99 cents a pound and which i sauteed in olive oil and salt until they started to blister, adding some minced garlic halfway through. i'm thankful when they were really starting to cook, i squeezed half a lemon into the pan. i'm thankful that i was able to catch most of the lemon seeds before the fell in the pan. i'm thankful that i managed the timing just right, so that our baked potato and the sweet italian sausages i was browning all were ready at the same time. i'm thankful that d had the idea, after we thought we had finished the box of red wine we'd bought, to take the plastic bag out of the box and squeeze the (surprisingly bountiful) dregs of it out into our mouths. i'm thankful that she first described it as being like a capri sun, which made me think of watching my brother play soccer, and then as being like a wineskin, which made me think of the odyssey. i'm thankful for the fancy hazelnut truffle i had after dinner and thankful for the booklet with the descriptive text in the box, from which i learned the word couverture. i'm thankful i saved the last oatmeal raisin cookie to take as a snack today.
i'm thankful that after dinner, d played her final fantasy game with e and, so they could work together, skyped on speakerphone with e, whose friend k was hanging out in her bedroom and watching tv. i'm thankful for e and k telling us about the episodes of botched they had been watching earlier in the afternoon, the most notable of which involved a woman who got large breast implants that slipped in together in the center of her chest (i'm thankful how, trying to describe it, they said that she had no "valley" between her breasts and then thought of the word "cleavage" and were clearly pleased to have arrived at the correct label)(i'm thankful that the surgeon on botched was able to help her). i'm thankful that while playing the game, d, who normally curses extravagantly, slipped with e into a younger form of sibling communication and emphatically used phrases like "that's bullcrap" and "what the heck!" and "that mother-effer" as they fought monsters and searched for treasure. i'm thankful for what a good friendship e and k have and that this game, even if it's not a perfect or great game, has provided a way for e and d to have fun together.
i'm thankful that it's a new month, the second month of the year. i'm thankful that we've already gotten through a month of winter. i'm thankful, on the other hand, to try to be present for time as it passes, to try to appreciate each day and not just "get through" it. i'm thankful for january 31st, which felt much longer than sundays do, even though i did more work than i usually do on sundays (i'm thankful to think about correlation and causation). i'm thankful that our washing machine is working well now, even if one of d's running socks got misplaced. i'm thankful for the sound of the dryer running from the other side of the house, the clothes tumbling against the drum, zippers and buttons clattering and clacking.
i'm thankful for how quiet winter is. i'm thankful, on our walk through the neighborhood, for the single bird that d and i heard tweeting loudly, trying to find whether there was anyone else awake to meet up with (i'm thankful to hope that there was). i'm thankful to be too cold in the house at night, which is much easier to remedy than being too hot in the house at night. i'm thankful for how much easier it is to sleep deeply in winter.
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