Today, I am starting the first blogging challenge of 2024! It is officially next year. Or yesterday was last year. This year seems like an abrupt change. I don’t know 2024 yet. We haven’t had enough time to get acquainted. It’s sort of like an arranged marriage, where you meet at the altar. You just don’t know each other yet to get comfortable in the relationship.
This month, I am writing stories using randomly generated words that begin with a letter of the alphabet, starting with A and going to Z and maybe beyond. Today, I have two randomly generated words: applause and appreciation. Both really good things and very connected. Applause is just a way to show appreciation. Like yesterday, when Jeanne, the choir director/organist played “Auld Lang Syne” as the postlude after the last service of the year at St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church. I have mad love for Scottish music. And for that organ. It was in poor condition, and Jeanne single handedly fixed it. It took a lot of patience, but she prevailed.
It’s been a warm winter thus far. The geese have yet to depart, as they usually do. These birds are amazing. They mate for life, and they have a clear structure in place. Today, as I was walking on the bike path, I heard one of the geese, keeping the flock in line with incessant and relentless honking. It’s quite an interesting social structure.
I guess that the message I am getting from all of this is to appreciate and applaud the moments that feel the quietest and the least dramatic: a cup of hot chocolate after a cold, damp hike; kisses from a dog or a cat; the urge to dance as if no one was looking…
What are some of your moments of applause and appreciation?
I totally agree – 2024 still feels strange and new. I’ll need more time to really get to know this new year. In the meantime I am appreciating the calm, quiet moments of life. Things like the wind chimes from my neighbor’s deck, hearing my family laugh and snuggling up with a blanket and a book.
And I give my applause to you! I see that you’ve been blogging for many years now. It’s very inspiring to see your consistency since May 2006. Very impressive. Kudos! Enjoy the blogging challenge!
Thank you very much. The blogging has been a long term project, but it now feels good to do it.
As for 2024, it feels like an arranged marriage. We don’t know each other, but we’re stuck with each other. So, hmmmm…
Im still in the excitement of the new year and I feel like alot of times we can get caught up in promising to uphold the sometines unattainable goals we set every year. I’m learning to appreciate the small consistent things that I do every day. Applauding that my family is adaptable as the routine of our lives sometimes change.