Thoughts: Gratitude, living in the country….

My good friend Mary Wondra lives near the village on Lopez Island, and has a keen eye for the subtle & the sublime. She posted this little observation about how the inside of what makes it autumn sometimes shows on the outside:

Had a lovely Lopez moment this morning. Sitting on the porch with my sweetie, drinking coffee, doing the x-word puzzle. It’s spider season, so there are webs EVERYWHERE on the vegetation, catching the early slanting sun on their dewy designs. In the apple tree, a spider drowsing in its web when suddenly, another spider appears and shakes one of the connecting strands.

The sleepy spider awakes and heads out to protect his/her home. Thus ensues spider wrestling, name calling, etc. while the two contend for mastery of the early morning construction. We watched for 20 minutes – no clear winner.

But I thought, wow, if I lived in the city, I would never have noticed this momentous battle going on. I’m grateful to be here this morning.