A Year of Gratitude – August 4, 2024

I found gratitude at dusk tonight. My family had been outside for a few hours and we lingered until this moment.

The sky was just losing light, the colors of the sunset being overtaken by darkness. We listened as a pair of Barred Owls called to each other from high above us in these pine trees. A few moments before I took this photo, a deer was in the distance browsing for something to eat.

As I stood next to our old barn, I considered all the sunsets this barn has stood through. 1840 was a long time ago, so many sunrises and sunsets to stand witness to.

It’s difficult for me to imagine how much the surrounding land has changed in that time. In the years since we moved here, it has changed a great deal. Our 19 years here are but a blink in the time that this barn has been standing.

I hope that we’ll be here for many more. I hope that we’ll be outside together, enjoying each other’s company as dusk sets in. With any luck, we’ll hear the owls, see the bats as they wobble about on their nightly rounds to hunt for mosquitos. We’ll be part of the history of this grand old space and do our best to make sure that it sees another 19 years and beyond.

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.