Such a Different Week

I guess I should just go ahead and figure that the "new normal" is odd.  And strange and unsettling and different.  It's going to always be this way, I think.

Stunning Sky

We had a glorious day yesterday.  RAIN!!!   I couldn't help but constantly have a thankful prayer in my heart every time I went outside, or looked out a window and breathed in the fresh air.  Yes, I'm aware it isn't the end of the drought. I wish it was.  But it felt like a little spiritually-reassuring tap on the hand with the message "don't give up".  I told The Husband I could practically hear all the plants/trees/grass/soil slurping in the moisture with relief.  A beautiful day for sure.

The Husband's iPad died.  The one I gave him for Christmas the same year he gifted me one - the one that we had to replace a couple months ago.  He got up in the morning and it was just dead.  Not almost dead, but truly completely dead.  The Apple store couldn't help, though it wasn't for lack of effort.  We walked away with a new one that has thus far been a tad frustrating for The Husband.  All the new stuff / changes are sometimes difficult to figure out and not always IMO an improvement.  I often say that just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.  Life is definitely a process.

I have pics of it going right over our heads!

This morning we decided to do one of The Husband's walks.  Which meant we drove to a trail.  Walked a different way so we could keep an eye on the beautiful clouds.  We know we saw the best and most beautiful part of the morning.  On the way back to the car we saw a hot-air balloon in the southern sky.  Invoked memories of when we did a hot-air balloon ride - fun memories.  The balloon steadily came our direction, pretty soon we could hear the flame being triggered to keep it aloft.  Then we heard "good morning!"  We responded in kind to the people in the balloon, I think that's a first, "chatting" with people floating above you in a balloon.  The next thing we heard from them was "eat more chicken!" which made us laugh.  A hot-air balloon is a great PR/advertising medium. 

This week we've seen deer on our walks, lots and lots of red-winged blackbirds (I love their actual song, not just the chitter sound they make), large predator birds, fish in the pond-lake, and a cat that looked pretty much like a bobcat wandering the trail by the Jordan River - though it had a longer tail.  Could it have been a long-tailed bobcat?  I know they exist, but do they exist around here?

And I read this article and so loved it.  I want to have a heart like hers - one that's pure and sweet.  That listens and doesn't interrupt, or answer for others, that's tolerant but not weak and readily forgives. Something to work toward, for sure.  Beautiful Heart

So grateful today for the rain we had, hoping for more.  Grateful for plenty of books to read when my arthritic hands are too painful to do much of anything. Grateful for lots of reading glasses around for when I need to read or do anything close up. Grateful to be able to go to the store (i.e. Costco / Target / Walmart / Grocery) and find pretty much anything our hearts desire.  So grateful for the innumerable blessings we are showered with.