A Year of Gratitude – May 5, 2024

I found my gratitude right outside the door of the farmhouse this morning. I headed outside to do my morning round of chores. It was chilly and I was tired.

I can admit that I was a bit grumpy. I’m not a morning person. I wasn’t quite awake, It was colder than expected, a bit drizzly, and I really just wanted to get back inside to a hot cup of coffee.

I plodded through my chores. I toted fresh water to the chicken coop. I gave the chickens their morning scratch. I added in a few vegetable scraps from yesterday. They were happy to see those scraps, as usual.

I moved from the chicken coop to the duck house. It’s a muddy mess in their pen right now from all of our rainy weather. That certainly didn’t improve my mood any. I added feed to their feeder, gave them fresh water, and let them outside.

They are noisy all the time, but especially so in the morning. It’s like listening to a duck concert, as if they are having a competition to see which one of them can be the absolute loudest among them. I’m not sure who won that contest this morning, but they all gave it their best effort.

I trudged back to the barn, put away my tools from chores, and turned towards the farmhouse. Coffee was almost in hand. It was just a few moments away.

And then I saw it. A lovely little group of grape hyacinths that were standing tall in the weather. They were such a glorious color. As much as I wanted to get inside for coffee, I had to stop and appreciate them. I crouched down to take this photo and marveled at the depth of their color, at how delicate their stem is yet it carries them through spring storms.

No, I am not a morning person, but I am a flower person, and these brilliant grape-colored flowers were just what I needed to help me to recalibrate my morning and set forth on having a beautiful day.

This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.