Every day, multiple times a day, I give thanks. I am thankful for where I live. There is beauty all around me, in the small details, like the moss underfoot, and there in the larger landscape, like the pink sky at night. I share my days with intelligent and loving people. My animals keep me in the present, and remind me to enjoy the journey.
The last two years have been filled with the miracle of hearing. My two cochlear implants have returned to me not just the ease of conversation, but also the minute details of life, only apparent through this sense – a dog’s pant, a twig snap, the tick of my wristwatch. The sounds of birds in the trees have become birdsong. A running stream is musical. Every day I give thanks to the long line of researchers and scientists and doctors who have made this possible.
I know that on this planet, I am one of the lucky ones, here, today, with my wealth and my freedom, my ability to make choices, and the wherewithal to make them reality, I do not take any of it for granted.
The underlying tenet of the type of animal training that I do is that although you keep in mind a large goal, you get there by breaking it down into small steps, each one carefully built on the one before. Do you want your dog to come? Before you ask your dog to move to you, what do you need? Think about it. She needs to look at you. Reward the glance, and then the focus, and then, finally, the movement to you. First it will be a slow trot, and at last there will be that all-out, pell-mell joy of the fast recall. Although this sounds like a tedious and lengthy way of doing things, it actually progresses amazingly fast. Be aware of, and reward, the seemingly minor moments. Ignore what isn’t right. Soon you will have achieved your objective. This is how I try to go about my days. I have my large goals, but I celebrate the very small steps needed to get there. And so I am most grateful to you, my readers. I could be writing about matters of political and societal importance. Certainly I think about those things. But, you give me an excuse to take the time to focus on seemingly inconsequential events – a hen’s molt, the last carrots from the garden, the baking of a pie. My daily blog is a place in which I can pay attention to those moments of grace, Like the animal training that I do, when the focus is on the small positive steps, the better the whole becomes.
Have a most wonderful day.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all your family.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful post.
Happy Thanksgivikkuh!!
Thanksgiving Greetings to you too, Terry! And to all of your readers on that side of the Atlantic from me!
Here in Cornwall, it’s “just another day”, filled with special moments worth pausing and appreciating. I’ll add a couple of things to your list, if I may:
The perfect egg my husband just brought in from our old hens.
The stillness and smell of an Autumn day spent in the garden.
Life is full of these wonders. Thank God for them all!
Thank you Terry for that beautiful post. Snoopy and I are thankful for our family and all the little things in life that make us smile. This year, we owe a couple of thousand smiles to you, Phoebe, Buffy and all the chickens, and the goats after discovering your website. Happy Thanksgiving! God bless you and all your family
I have been lurking for over a year now. Thank you so much for your webcams!
Your thankfulness for your cochlear implants is why I’m posting. Life can be amazing at times. I remember as a 20 year old sitting in my college Biology class listening to a teacher talk about how one day people would have implants that could make them hear. How he and others had been working summers and days off up at Penn State Univ. to make it happen. It was pie-in-the-sky stuff to us back then. A lot of the kids in the class would laugh at him behind his back. And if we wanted to blow off a class, we would all just get him started talking about the implants. Kids can be so silly. The year? 1980.
It’s a wonderful thing that some peoples’ dreams actually do come true.
What a great story. I wish that you could get in touch with that professor, and show him my post and your comment. It would make his day.
Your supposing that somewhere down in the dungeon (my basement) I still have my school papers from back then. I might, maybe, somewhere, in some box… :)
Happy Thanksgiving to you, Terry, and all dwellers at Little Pond. I am so thankful for your blog and wish you many more years of writing. I would like to wish all your followers a Happy Thanksgiving too, thanks for sharing your thoughts through Terry. I enjoy them so much.
PS- Love the card. Very sweet. Feels like home.
And thanks to you Terry for being such a pal, for my parcel of lovely things which arrived bang on time, and for arranging to have both Thanksgiving and the start of Chanukkah on my birthday. I’ll be raising a glass you you this evening, and enjoying my own golden leaves, silently emerging mushrooms, the cat’s feet shining from the wet grass, and my many friends who make me laugh until I cry. I genuinely am thankful every single day when I drive down my track that I live in such a beautiful spot, in a cathedral of ancient trees. Looking forward to seeing you in a month or so!
And I am grateful that you do NOT write about political a/o societal topics. There are more than enough of those. I immensely enjoy your localized, “down home” blog entries. I have chickens also and very much like to read about how you do things for your animals.
As I get older, I am grateful for the small things in life, such as you mentioned. I am also increasingly grateful for my health and family members. Although its obvious, you never really appreciate either one until you lose them. Sadly, I have been losing more family members, so I am doubly grateful for the family members who are still here.
and you do the same for us…thank you.
Thank you, Terry, for sharing those “seemingly inconsequential events.” HenCam gives me the same boost as looking out the window for a few minutes, or going for a walk in the park. It helps me get away from all the artificial culture we’ve invented for ourselves (I would include politics in there…!) But even better, HenCam is educational, and at times as exciting as a good mystery novel! Keep up the good work! :-)
I am so thankful to have found your blog and hencam. I have so enjoyed your beautiful pictures during the year. Your cooking posts have inspired me to be a better cook. While i do not have hens yet in my life i take great joy in all the posts about your ladies. All the inhabitants of little pond cheer and comfort my heart. My loving gratitude for your hard work and dedication on making this cyber spot a slice of heaven for me. Happy Thanksgiving!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND HAPPY HANUKKAH TO YOU TERRY AND TO YOUR FAMILY TOO!!! I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING A WONDERFUL WONDERFUL DAY!!! THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE!!!
I am thankful for you, your family, all the animals at Little Pond, and this wonderful blog that is part of a daily devotional I have come to love! Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah! Forever Friends across the miles!
Happy Turkey Day Terry! I am very grateful for all your sound advice and help through the last year, all things chickeny are a lot easier with your prompt knowledge. Hencam is awesome and I am grateful that you continue to post useful and interesting stuff to brighten all our days. Thank you x
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Your posts are not inconsequential. Your posts are so down to earth yet informative and that’s why I check your site every day. Yes…you could be posting about the politics and the goings on of our country. These types of posts would stress me out. There is nothing like walking out into our backyard to spend time with our hens, or our beloved dogs, our goats, our pets. Our pets and the beauty of nature are what keep us going. There are very few people who get this. We have to stop and stare out our windows to watch nature around us. Our hens bring us the biggest smiles ever. Keep doing what you are doing Terry!! I am so thankful for your HenCam!!!
Most times it is the small or ordinary things in our days or lives that become the extraordinary.
We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia, but I give thanks for your blog and the ability to share the lives of your animals (and your cooking) and all the information within.
Where else could I go at 3 am in the morning when I can’t sleep?:
http://foodnstuff.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/the-things-we-do/
Thank you, Terry.
I visit in the middle of my night as well! And I too am grateful to be included in this community that you have created, and to see through your eyes, and learn from your experience.thank you!
Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for the post. I too am grateful for the skill of our medics as I had a hip replacement 6 weeks ago and am now free of pain and learning to walk properly again. I am looking forward to being able to walk on the beach and in the fields and woods with my dog instead of romping round the tarmac on my mobility scooter. Having said that I am also grateful for the lovely Tarka Trail here in North Devon which has enabled me to get out and about along the beautiful River Taw.
Happy Thanksgiving to Terry and family, her animals and all her followers. I too enjoy the comments from everyone as well as the blog itself and check in everyday. Thank you all.
Happy Thanksgiving Terry – hope it was a good one. So happy you got the cochlear implants.
Happy and Joyful Thanksgiving to you and the family Terry, and to all the inhabitants of The Farm. Enjoyed your web site immensely. My girls (RI,Leghorn,2 Buffys, Red star) thank you every morning. I have learn so much from your site and blogs that the girls are healthy, and quite vocal about it!
I’m a day late, but I hope you, your family, and all of your readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you for this thoughtful post, Terry. I love visiting here every day and look forward to reading all about those “seemingly inconsequential events.” They make me smile.
I’m two days late in writing…still enjoying this wonderful piece of writing. Will read and re-read many times. Have a wonderful weekend. We are grateful that you are there for us and our little flock.
Thank you for a thoughtful post and a wonderful blog. I am going to share parts of this entry with my children because I like the way you phrase your expressions of gratitude – much more articulate than my own attempts! Happy Belated Thanksgiving!
Many blessings to you and yours’ this holiday season! I am truly grateful for HenCam.
YES. All of this. Thank you.
Beautiful post. Thank you.
Thank you so much for sharing your life. Know that you inspire others in many ways. I so look forward to reading your thoughts every day!!