A Year of Gratitude – January 30, 2024

I found my gratitude on my morning round of farm chores today. It was below freezing and breezy. The footing wasn’t great, so I was concentrating on finishing my chores without slipping, on getting back inside the farmhouse to warm up in front of the pellet stove with Penny Lane and a hot cup of coffee.

That all changed when I spotted this winterberry with snow clinging to it. Yes, it was still cold. The breeze was still blowing across my face. I needed to make sure that my boots were making good contact with snow rather than ice with each step. But there was beauty just waiting for me to stop and appreciate it. So, I did.

How could I pass by these bright red berries when the entire landscape, every branch and surface, seemed to be bathed in snow? I just couldn’t. I got out my phone, took off my gloves, and captured a few photos to share with you.

Once I was safely inside the farmhouse, I snuggled up with Penny Lane in front of the pellet stove. I had my coffee in hand and took a bit of time to warm up before looking at the photos I had taken.

My first creative love was photography and I still get excited about trying to capture something beautiful in a photo. I don’t always do the real thing justice, but today I think that I did. The red of the berries and those delicate snowflakes really did all the hard work. I just let my fingers get cold to click the button.

So, I found my gratitude in a branch of winterberry in the snow, in the joy I still have all these decades later in trying to photograph something, to keep it with me so that I can remember just how marvelous it was when I first saw it.

I’m not sure that I’ll see anything this grand tomorrow, but I am going to keep my eyes open and my camera with me just in case. There just might be something beautiful that I’ll get to share with you and I don’t want to miss it.

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.