A Year of Gratitude – February 23, 2024

My gratitude came to me early today. I found it while I was out tending to our animals this morning. It stayed with me all day long.

We woke up to a dusting of snow this morning that quickly turned to rain. When I went out to do my morning round of farm chores, I stopped to enjoy this beautiful sight and to take a photo to share with you.

I got wet standing out in the rain to capture a few photos to make sure that I had one to share with you. I didn’t mind at all because it was such a pretty moment. It made me happy to share it, to read your comments when you saw it.

It was a dreary, drizzly day here from start to finish. The sky was grey. The fresh snow melted away and gave way to mud by the time I headed out to do my evening farm chores.

Getting soaked by the morning rain, a dreary day without sunshine, and mud under my muck boots could have all come together to turn my outlook just as drear. Yet I decided to focus on the beauty in this photo instead.

Without the rain, this rainbow wouldn’t have come together. If the day had been bright and sunny, I might not have held on to this moment, I might have just brushed it off as a moment in my morning and gone about my day, totally forgetting about it.

The mud? Well, it didn’t play a part in my gratitude for my early morning moment. But it is a sign that we are one day, and hopefully one giant step closer to spring. The ground is not covered under a thick layer of snow and ice. The top layer of earth isn’t frozen solid. It is thawing, warming, and readying itself for warmer days.

So am I. I can’t wait to be able to work the garden soil, to turn over the beds we covered in leaves last fall. They have been asleep for the winter, gaining strength for the growing season ahead. In many ways, I have been too. It’s nearly time to get back to growing, to tending the earth and growing delicious food for my family.

It’s nearly my favorite time of year when so much of the growing season is ahead of us, when all good things seem possible in the garden and I can dream of all the wonderful moments that the season ahead has in store for us.

I hope that your day treated you to a bit of beauty and that it landed gently.

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.