thank you notes (ashley)

I'm thankful for how the snow piled up in one of my old windows during the blizzard, that a ferocious overnight accumulation settled like sedimentary rock strata in the desert.

I'm thankful that I've still never seen the desert but am making plans to go.

I'm thankful that I went to Central Park alone the morning after the blizzard. I'm thankful for how good it felt to laugh at myself when I lost my footing and almost tumbled down a snowy hill in front of strangers.

I'm thankful for the moment I noticed a particular sparrow in the snow. I kept watching the sparrow because something seemed unusual. The sparrow was very still. The sparrow then twitched three times and spread its wings very wide, triumphant, and turned upside down and died. I looked around to see if anyone else noticed, and I realized days later that my instinct to look for other people in that moment meant that I was afraid, too. But no one was around, not even another sparrow. I'm thankful for how meaningful it felt to witness the last few moments of the sparrow's life. 

I'm thankful for the sand-smoothing-rock relief that time provides, that some things really do get easier.

I'm thankful for sobriety.

I'm thankful for Walker Percy's hurricane theory and that it applies to blizzards, too.

I'm thankful that when I told my mother I was sad that Donald Trump existed, she said, ""It'll all come out in the wash come washin' day.""

I'm thankful that I'll get to see D on his birthday.

I'm thankful that when I had a crippling stomach ache in Rockville, J said, as she sat on the floor eating a pizza, ""If you start puking, I'll take care of you."" (I'm thankful that I didn't puke.)

I'm thankful that I only have a vague idea of who is reading this.

I'm thankful that when I read what other people are thankful for, they often describe the light. 

- ashley (1/29/16). instagram/tumblr/twitter: @cosmopsis