1. My Favorite Little Card from the holidays.
“Be Kind, Rain or Shine”
2. Memories of a Beautiful Christmas 2022.
3. Shelter. A place to sleep, to lay my head at night.
4. Grandson Daniel, enjoying the “Harry Potter Experience” in Atlanta recently.
5. My Resolution #5 for 2023:
“LOOK FOR GOOD.”
May we all have a “good-looking” weekend ahead.
1. Holly.
I think that Christmas can absolutely not be Jolly without Holly.
2. Robert’s little homemade birch Christmas card-hanging thingy.
3. The ability to wake up each morning and see. SEE! I can look on the other side of the bed and see HR sleeping soundly. (Well, more truthfully, actually HEAR HR sleeping soundly. Whew.) I can look out my window and see the ancient Live Oak tree branches swaying in the wind. I can walk out of the bedroom into the hall, kitchen, living room, and see our modest collection of art, family heirlooms and comfortable rugs …
I can see! What an incredible blessing. But I so often take SEEING for granted.
4. My World Famous Hambone Soup, made from the hambone left over from our Christmas ham.
Oh, and with my jalapeño cornbread.
5. The Truth of this quote …
“The destination of life is this eternal moment.” Alan Watts
I truthfully hope you have a joyful last weekend of 2022.
1. Walking through our local mall the other day, HR and I came upon our grandson Daniel, fresh from a haircut nearby, aimlessly meandering around, waiting for his mom to pick him up. We confiscated him and took him out to lunch at Chick-fil-A.
Family Joy. Daniel is especially excited because he just got the part of Marius in a local production of Les Mis.
2. Our deliciously sweet tradition of getting a tin of peppermint bark from Williams Sonoma.
3. Having expectations, hopes, dreams, things we still want to accomplish during our short time here.
4. This nutcracker.
5. My early Friday morning view right now from the couch.
May you have an abundance of beautiful holiday views this weekend.
1. Our new turtle ornament!
2. Savannah holiday wreathes near us.
3. Our fingers. Our toes. What a blessing.
4. The incredible beauty of the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s annual “Garden Lights, Holiday Nights.” Each year it gets better and brighter!
A little video featuring some of the musical lights hanging from the tall garden trees.
5. The cutest holiday grandchild in the history of grandchildren.
May you have a holly jolly weekend ahead.
1. Our interracial ornaments!
2. The beautiful little boutique coffee shop that just opened across the street from us in the old Trustees Garden area of Savannah.
3. The joy and privilege of breathing in and breathing out … all the time!
4. Cute-collared holiday doggie near us.
5. Democracy winning …
May you have a winning weekend ahead!
1. Seeing this display at Fresh Market snd thinking it was giving me life advice …
(I still think it’s pretty good life advice.)
2. Having a delightfully laidback and peaceful post-Thanksgiving meal with two of Robert’s children.
3. The color green (my favorite).
4. Last night’s Design District Holiday Walk here in Savannah.
With the fanciest and most beautiful hors d’oeuvres I have ever seen.
5. HR’s fall-hearty and yummy chicken casserole the other night.
I hope your weekend casseroles around beautifully for you.
My weekly list of a few “joy inciters” in my life. A Friday Gratitude Journal, of sorts.
1. My Thanksgiving cranberry sauce!
2. Having hands and fingers (even with my arthritis) which enable me to chop onions for Thanksgiving dressing, shake hands with strangers, pick up granddaughter Isabelle and hold hands with HR.
3. The novel I am currently reading in my study chair about a Black American woman caught between her privilege and her identity.
4. This little tree near us who is losing his beautiful leaves. But see how he is standing proud in spite of his de-clothing
5. Peanut butter.
May you have a weekend for which to give thanks.
My weekly list of a few “joy inciters” in my life. A Friday Gratitude Journal, of sorts.
1. The beautiful bottlebrush plant we saw recently on a walk here in Savannah.
What a cool and fitting name! And it’s SO friendly. It colorfully whispered in my ear, “You know, Neal, Christmas is coming! Joy to the world!”
2. Pine. Oh, the glorious appearance and aroma of pine!
3. Comfortable shoes.
4. Always having enough food to eat. (I so often take that blessing for granted.)
5. The beach.
May Peace shine on you this weekend before Thanksgiving.
1. More Savannah fall sidewalk beauty to process.
2. Speaking of beauty, a beautiful little turtle I filmed (10 seconds, watch it!) at the education center at Sapelo Island this week. We really hit it off.
Let’s call her Autumn!
3. Unique walkways.
4. Today. Simply having TODAY. What a reason to rejoice!
5. Spanish moss and Robert.
May you have So Much to love this weekend!
NealEnJoy 