Renovate or Conflagrate

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Biddy Betty's Baubles & Fortune Emporium

(short story writing contest, 2019, round 1)
Note: I entered a short story writing contest in January 2019. I was given a genre, theme, and character and had 7 days to write a story that had less than 2500 words. My categories: comedy, power-struggle, great-grandmother. Each heat (there were ~150 heats) was judged by independent judges. The top five from each heat moves on to the next round. I made the top 5 in my heat! The next round I will be assigned new categories and will have 3 days to complete a story. -g

 

Biddy Betty’s Baubles and Fortune Emporium

 

Grammy decides to clean house before she dies.
But despite her good intentions, her family just can’t seem to let it all go.

 

Some kids grow up hearing fairy tales and learning some moralistic teaching that may or may not indicate how much therapy they are going to need later in life. I grew up learning fortune telling from my Grammy Betty. I suppose there would be some who would say it’s the same thing, but I think I’ll discuss it with my therapist later.

Someone once asked Grammy, “Can you really see the future?”

She responded, “I’ve lived in so much of the past I can extrapolate where the future is headed.” I also learned the importance of interesting vocabulary from her. Another thing I learned from Grammy was the power of observation.

When I was a kid, I was playing with a set of runes while she was busy doing some old lady thing that I wasn’t interested in. “Sis,” she said. She always called the girls in our family “Sis”. She called the boys “Brother”.  “Sis, you can tell a lot about someone based on their choices. For example, someone who chooses runes for their tool of future-telling is looking for simplicity. They want brief lines that lay out a fairly specific path. Tarot, on the other hand, is chosen by people who need complexity—sometimes to the detriment of finding any path.”

She often spoke what she was thinking, even when it might upset someone. Once, some old man that was flustered at her bluntness blurted, “Betty! Why are you such an old biddy?” It was meant to be an insult, but she took it on as her own. She wore it with a sense of stubborn pride and would state, “Because I’m Biddy Betty, that’s why.” If we ever got to that point in a conversation with her, though, we knew to just walk away…slowly.

I would visit with her at least once a week. I’d water all the plants in her house (especially the ones in the loft). “I’m 83-and-a-half years old,” Grammy would say. “I have to be careful to not get hurt at my age. At my age things take a lot longer to heal. And if I’m not careful, I’ll have a hard time getting back into shape.” She said that at least once a week and I chuckled every time. She walked 3.5 miles every day except Wednesday. Wednesday she had to rest up for Mahjong. She was definitely in better shape than two-thirds of her family, who were all younger than her.

Every time I visited her, we chatted about the state of the world, my lack of a love life, the latest trend in tidying up. “Grammy, what do you think about this KonMari method of purging your belongings?”

She looked at me blankly and glanced around the room that was filled—neatly—with knick-knacks, souvenirs, bits and baubles from various suitors and spouses over the years, her special china, shelves upon shelves of books, literally a treasure trove of trinkets. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Well, it’s a way of cleaning and organizing your stuff to always have what you need and nothing more—to put it simply. You get rid of things that don’t make you joyful.”

She snorted. “If I threw out everything that didn’t bring me joy, I wouldn’t have a single thing. None of this stuff brings me joy. What brings me joy are the memories that are connected to the items. The people I was with when I got them, or gifts that were given to me by someone special. Those memories are what’s special. Things are just…THINGS.”

She ran her finger along the line of knick-knacks on the mantle.

“But, look at all of these things! What’s going to happen to them when I’m gone?” This caught my ear. Grammy didn’t often dwell on dying. Even though she now had three great-grandchildren, she hadn’t ever talked about what life would be for the rest of us once she was gone.

“Denise from Mahjong just got back from taking care of her mom’s funeral and cleaning out the house. It took her two solid weeks of going through the entire house. She gave away so much stuff. She threw away even more. I don’t want that for my family. And her mom was only 72!”

“Ok, Grammy. What are you going to do about it then?”

She paused and tipped her head to the side. “I guess I should start getting rid of stuff. I know you grandkids have all been eye-balling my things. And then there’s my kids. Oh, dear! How can I make sure things are fair?”

I hugged her good-bye and went home for the day. Two days later there was an announcement sent to the entire family. Grammy had something to share and wanted everyone there.

All 18 of her direct lineage (4 children, 11 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren) were there. It was a tight fit inside the “880 square feet of castle” as she liked to call it, but we made it work. It was fascinating to watch everyone gravitate to the possession of hers that they liked the best. Uncle Pat sat next to the grandfather clock, Cousin Shelly stood next to one of the hutches filled with souvenir dolls from around the world. I realized even I was sitting on my favorite chair.  The only ones not focused on stuff were the 3 great-grandkids. They were all under the age of five, after all.

“Thank you all for coming today,” she started. “As you know I will most likely be dying soon.” Everyone immediately chimed in. “What are you talking about? You’re healthier than I am! You’re fine. Stop being so dramatic!” She held up her hand and we stopped talking.

“I have decided that I don’t want any of you to have to go through all of my crap. I’m not begging to go, but I don’t want to go with my drawers full. So, over the next several months, my house is basically going to be one large, ongoing rummage sale.” A brief pause stretched into a full-blown awkward silence. Grammy peered around at all of us gathered around her. It was suddenly as if we were all a part of some odd family class and no one did the homework. “Did you all hear what I said?”

“Mom…” started my mom. “We heard the words. We don’t quite understand what you mean by it.”

“It is what I am going to do with 83 years of accumulation. I don’t want all of you to have to go through all of this junk after I’m gone. So, I am going to have a big sale and get rid of my stuff so you don’t have to.”

Needless to say, there was pandemonium and chaos after that proclamation. None of her children thought that was a good idea. The grandkids all had ideas on better ways to sell the items online. But she was set in what she wanted to do.

The first few months actually went really well. The extended garage sale concept gave all the family a chance to come over regularly. We helped sort, clean, and catalogue the items. The grandkids were tasked with finding price ranges. The parents all met outside of Grammy’s to discuss a way to possibly have her declared incompetent and gain power of attorney. It always devolved into discussion of other family members and eventually wended its way back to family affairs.

Grammy loved every minute of it. She had different people coming in, talking with her, giving her money for this thing or that. And she always took time to give a little back story to the purchase and would usually take time to tell someone’s fortune. Sometimes it was as simple as “your wife is going to love this”. Sometimes it was much more complex and detailed. It all depended on the person and which item they were interested in.

Time kept moving forward. The healthy, right-minded genes in our family are strong, so all of her kids’ efforts to wrest control of her affairs fizzled out. There was still grumbling at various levels since they thought they deserved some portion of their inheritance that was going out the door and leaving an increasingly empty house, but overall things progressed smoothly.

Then, 3-months, 2-days, 10-hours after her proclamation, things began to change. It started small. After Mahjong one day, her friend Denise stopped by the house.

“Betty, I know you have been getting rid of all of your things. You just sold your China set two days ago. You only have a few pots and pans. I would like to give you this everyday dish set from my mother. She would be happy for you to have it!”

Betty blinked and looked around the kitchen. It was rather bare. “Okay,” she said.

The next day, someone pulled up in front of her house in a pickup truck. In the back of the truck was a beautiful table.

“Miss Betty!” called the young man getting out of the cab. “My grandma said I should bring this table over to your house. We were going to take it to Goodwill for her but she said we should bring it here instead.” With that, he and his friend bustled into the house carrying the table. They set it in the still mostly empty kitchen and turned to go.

“Now wait one second!” Grammy walked up to the boys and stared furiously at them. “I don’t want a table! Please take it back to your grandmother!” The boys chuckled.

“No need to thank us! We’ve always wanted to meet you in person!” The first one hugged her briefly and said, “And grandma said to give you a hug from her! Hope you have a great day!”

Then they got into their truck and drove away.

“Wait…Who is your grandmother?” Grammy stood on the sidewalk in front of her house looking completely baffled. Before she could go inside, another car pulled up.

A woman got out of the car. “Are you Biddy Betty?”

“…Yes…?” Grammy wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen if she answered in the affirmative.

“Oh! Wonderful! I have a box with my great-grandmother’s tea service in my car. I have the hutch she used to keep it in back in my garage. They have been there for the last 10 years. I don’t really need them and there’s no one else in my family to share them with. And I don’t have time to dedicate to selling it. Could I give them to you to sell? I’d be willing to split the money with you, if you’d like.”

It started as a trickle like that then grew to a never-ending influx of new items that others were getting rid of. For each one thing Grammy sold, three, four, even five other items were brought to her. Some were things people had sitting in storage for the last how-ever-many-years. Others were items that were part of purge-cleaning projects and no longer brought their owners joy…but the owners found a lot of joy in giving it to “Biddy Betty”.

I stopped by her house one Wednesday to take her to Mahjong. I walked in to find her sitting on the floor in the middle of her living room.

“Grammy!” I rushed to her side, fearing the inevitable. “Grammy, are you ok? What’s the matter?”

She looked at me as I knelt beside her. She had a bewildered air about her. “Look! Look around you. How did this happen?” I looked around at the room. It was twice as full as when she had told us her grand plan just a few short months ago. “And it’s not just the living room, you know.” I did know. I’d spent all of my outside of work time for the last three months at the house.  Most of the family had been there, too. Now, the sorting, cataloguing, and cleaning was for incoming items.

“I have more now than I did before. And none of these things spark joy in me. I don’t even know all of their stories.” She was genuinely distressed about that.

Another family meeting was called. This one was even more awkward than the last one. Everyone sat, almost uncomfortably, on new-to-us furniture. None of the items in the room were Grammy’s.

Grammy had a resolute look on her face. “You all are going to have to start taking some of these things. I can’t fit any more in my house. Even with everything I sell. I think I may have to have the rummage sale more often than not.” She looked at each of us in turn. “I know you each wanted something of mine. And I’m sorry I did not give them to you. This seemed like a good idea at the time.”

A silence filled the room. Mom’s older brother, who had been helping Grammy keep her books said, “Why don’t we make it official. The money that Grammy has from selling all of her things, and the appraisals of the new things…well, there’s more than enough to purchase the old Smith house around the corner. We could move everything in there and start a full-fledged family business.”

Everyone stared at him. He continued, “I’m serious. There’s a fortune to be made. The last few months we’ve made a nice chunk of change. That’s just by dinking around. What do you think would happen if we were actively focused on it?”

That was 8 years ago. Grammy died four years after we had our grand opening. She got to see her family thrive. She watched us track down and learn the stories of the various treasures that came through our doors. She celebrated with us when a favorite item was sold.

We moved into the old Smith place. Hanging on the front porch, a tasteful sign states who we are: Biddy Betty’s Baubles and Fortune Emporium.

We kept the original white board sign from the grand opening on which she printed:

Hours: Thursday-Tuesday

Open: when the door is unlocked and the “OPEN” sign is turned on.

Closed: when we’re done for the day.

Special Fortune with purchase of any item.

Closed Wednesdays for Mahjong.

It sits on the shelf behind the cash register, right next to her urn and her favorite Tarot deck and rune stones. There’s no promises that we won’t sell those things, they are just things, after all. But for now, they guard the shop while we’re not there. And when we are there, they remind us that our future can be extrapolated from our past.

Hearth Letter_March 2019_From the Heart

What is your purpose in life?

Season changes always bring me to a place of reflective contemplation.

This change is no different.

The contemplation this time around has been about my "purpose in life". A thought went through my head. "What if someone never finds their purpose in life? Does that mean their life has/had no purpose?"

The thought stopped me in my tracks. I felt the wheels that are always spinning in my mind screech to a halt. I experienced a full-on PAUSE in thought processes. Is cognizance of a purpose what makes it purposeful? Does a purpose not have a purpose if I don't know it's a purpose? Is a known purpose what makes a life full of purpose?

Obviously, the mind-wheels didn't stay still for too long.

I poked and prodded that thought for awhile. I came to my own conclusion: If someone does not "find" their purpose in life it does not mean that their life is any less purposeful. It might be sad (...that popped up another question: Will someone who doesn't know their purpose have a chance of being happy or fulfilled?) Or rather... I would be sad for another if they didn't find, or know, their purpose in life. But would they be unhappy? Would they be fulfilling their purpose if they didn't know their purpose?

As I said...wheels...turning.

That eventually led me down the thought path of, "What is your purpose in life?" As I said it in my mind, I heard it with an emphasis on the word "purpose". 

"What is your PURPOSE in life?"

That is usually how it reverberates through the air whenever this topic is discussed. The PURPOSE is the important part. And it is always PURPOSE with a capital "P". Often, along with the question, anxiety stretches to its full length and globs its prickly-sticky self around my internal organs. This time was no different. Was I fulfilling my purpose? Was the purpose of my life the real purpose of my life? 

I continued rolling the phrase around and around in my mind. Eventually, little adjustments happened and suddenly I heard the phrase with the emphasis on the word "your".

"What is YOUR purpose in life?"

There was a sudden inhalation. It was literally an "ah-ha!" moment! I began to contemplate some more. What if I chose the purpose of my life? What if it really is MY purpose? 

It felt as if my mind was doing a "wet-dog shake" and freeing itself of 47-years of preconceived notions. I took another deep breath and felt the thought of "striving to find my purpose" slide out of me on the exhale. 

Then the question repeated. 

"What is YOUR PURPOSE in life?"

And now, instead of a slight feeling of anxiety at trying to find it, excitement bubbled up. I get to choose my purpose! It is mine. The world opened up before me again. I get to embark on an amazing journey of making my purpose. 

Where will this path lead? I'm not sure. I have a lot of ideas and many directions I could go! And that is what Spring is about. New beginnings. New growth. New plantings. I will share the newness. And I invite YOU to share YOUR purpose with us! What new directions, new plantings, new growth are you contemplating at this turn of the wheel?

WWRL would love to hear from YOU! Please feel free to share via email, snail mail, or on our social media platforms.

May YOUR purpose take strong root and grow into full beauty!

Hearth Letter_December 2018_From the Heart

I Choose Love

The society we live in is full of noise: technology, machines, hustle & bustle of people, social media, emails, snail mail, appointments to keep, meetings to make, phone calls to follow up on, family to care for, friends to check on. So much noise! Sometimes it feels as if you just need to curl up in a little ball under your covers and stay there for the next 43 days! Then all of the news makes you feel like you cannot bear to hear one more word; then all of the anxiety around you converges into a single point of all-encompassing, white-hot miasma of pain; then the drama builds and spills from one part of your life to another…

And we want to yell, “STOP. Just. Stop!”

This is where the bits and pieces we practice in our everyday life come into sharp focus. I truly show up when I look to my happiness as well as another’s; when I practice exquisite self-care; when I speak up for my needs, my wants, my fulfillment; when I choose love over fear, acceptance over hate, compassion over apathy.

When I do these things, I actively choose to open to the Beauty that surrounds us. I choose to step across boundaries, to cut across stereotypes, to BE a part of the Beautiful Universe that we have the privilege to live in.

Many cultures the world over celebrate this time of year with festivals of light, hope, and goodwill. Part of the winter tradition also includes going into the cave and getting some respite and rejuvenation. We carefully plan all sorts of self-care (physical, emotional, and spiritual). We remind family and friends that we may not be as responsive to their needs because we are going to be actively caring for ourselves.

Now, more than ever, this ritualistic time of introspective self-care is so important! It is imperative for us to assess where we are. When we do, we are able to more readily plan for where we want to go. Do we want to continue on the path we are on? Do we want to adjust slightly? Do we want to choose an entirely different direction?

Along with the self-care, I want to encourage us all to reach out to those around us. If there is someone you appreciate in your life, tell them. Take a chance and connect with someone who is not in our regular circle of acquaintances.

Yes, it’s risky to let others see us as we are! When we do so, we run the risk of being rejected and that is terrifying. And it is also rewarding. Connecting with someone can be as rejuvenating as tucking away in our cave for the entire season. Sharing space with others reminds us of our commonalities, it allows us to stretch beyond our own little capacity. It actively makes us see Self in Other.

When we do this, we choose to do things differently. We choose Love.

What do you choose? Share with us your connections! What other connections do you wish to make?

This season, May you be filled with what you need. May you have enough to share. May Love fill every nook and cranny of your being!

Thank you for choosing to be connected to Woman’s Way Red Lodge.

Experimental Gratitude

A new year has begun, complete with all of the "new year, new me", "make 2019 your best year yet", and "out with the old, in with the new" hype that always comes around this time of year.

I am starting an experiment. It is much like the "month of giving thanks" that people do in November. But, I am going to try it for an entire year. (Try being the operative word...). Each day, I am going to list something that I am grateful for. Along with it, I am going to list one thing that I found beauty in. My goal is to not do any repeats. We'll see what happens. And we'll see if I can post something every day. There may be some times that I have to list several days in a row (like today...I'm not posting this until January 3, 2019, so I'm already behind!) but I will try to make a point of pausing each day and reflecting on something I'm grateful for and something I find/see beauty in.

It will all be posted on this blog post. We'll see what transpires!

JANUARY:

1. I was thankful for snow. ... and I thought the snow was beautiful.
2. I was thankful for a heater. I thought my jade plants were beautiful.
3. I am thankful for dreams. I see beauty in the holiday lights that most places still have up.
4. I am thankful for indoor plumbing. 
5. I am thankful for time with family (playing Flagstaff-opoly).
6. I am thankful for warm blankets. I see beauty of new snow. 
7. I am thankful for another year. I see the beauty of myself. 
8. I am thankful for cold medicine. 
9. I am thankful for technology. 
10. I am thankful for Scott. 
11. I am thankful for a warm place to sleep. 
12. I am thankful for music
13. I am grateful for good food. 
14. I am grateful for elders. 
15. I am grateful for basketball! First game for PFS JV girls basketball! 🏀
16. I am grateful for sleep.
17. I am grateful for good writers (in particular, Silent Sky).
18. I am thankful for rain.
19. I am thankful for WWRL Lodgekeepers.
20. I am thankful for bacon.
21. I am thankful for art and being able to make art. 
22. I am thankful for music. 
23. I am thankful I have a job that allows me to pay for my bills.
24. I am thankful for Taiko and see beauty in their voices. 
25. I appreciate the beauty of hawks.
26. I am thankful for imagination. (Short story challenge, "Bitty Betty's Baubles & Fortune Emporium")
27. I am thankful for Keliani. I love her persistence.
28. I am thankful to be coaching JV basketball at PFS.
29. I am grateful for refrigeration. 
30. I love coaching middle school JV girls basketball. 
31. I am thankful for Akiane. I love the way she sees the world. 

FEBRUARY:

1. I am thankful for 1st Friday Art Walk.
2. I am thankful for sleep.
3. I am thankful for Raymond. I love his willingness to be himself. And his sense of humor is great.
4. I am thankful for my ability to get up and try again...to persist. 
5. I am thankful for Nevaeh. I love her tenacity. 
6. I am thankful for pauses. 
7. I am thankful for coffee. I find it funny that more often than not I drink it black now. 
8. I am thankful for my Jacuzzi. 
9. I am thankful for and see the beauty of houseplants. 
10. I am grateful for movies. I am thankful for WWRL Lodgekeepers. In particular (tonight): Sophie, Grace, and Heather.
11. I am thankful for being able to communicate... More or less clearly!
12. I am thankful for girls who work hard and WIN basketball games! (We won our first game tonight! It was the first game they have won in 2 years!)
13. I am grateful for volunteers.
14. I am grateful for fire fighters.
15. I am grateful for being able to get grant proposals and reports in on time.
16. I am thankful for music and being able to hear Tay play at Firecreek. 
17. I am grateful for Shimmer Lee & WWRL monthly workshop.
18. I am grateful and thankful for my mom.
19. I am grateful for getting to see Raymond grow. He stayed the night with us tonight. And tonight was the first time he has ever asked me to come in to say good-night to him.
20. I see beauty in individual snowflakes caught on frosty windows. I am thankful for central heating.
21. I am thankful for warm blankets on cold & snowy nights.
22. I am grateful for deep snow recharging the aquafers.
23. I am grateful for hard working actors & production team.
24. I am grateful for Donita Godwin.
25. I am grateful for imagination & being able to design & craft different things.
26. I love seeing the snow melt.
27. I am grateful for Tay.
28. I am thankful for things coming together and having a good final dress rehearsal.

MARCH:

1. I am grateful for an amazing opening night (Producers). I am grateful for wine.
2. I am thankful that I get to spend time with some wonderful people for a really fun show. I am grateful for wine & chocolate. I love getting to giggle backstage with Crystal.
3. I am grateful for all of the hard work and love put into WWRL by the Lodgekeepers.
4. I am grateful for meditations in the jacuzzi.
5. I love meeting with people and developing great Festivals (Deana).
6. I am grateful that Cheryl with Random Impulse Taiko was able to be at rehearsal tonight. I really enjoy drumming with her!
7. I am happy to meet new volunteers for Sun Sounds. The man I met today is also a knife sharpener hobbyist. I find that very interesting!
8. I am thankful for cast families who help make set pieces (in particular, I am grateful for Alice & Larry Gibbs, and Andy Besler).
9. I am grateful for getting to work with such amazing youth in FAME's The Producers.
10. I am thankful for Scott Godwin helping clean up after the show.
11. I am grateful for my health and that I am able to stay as active as I want (more-or-less).
12. I am grateful for Bobbie. I just want her to be happy.
13. I am thankful to be a part of Made in the Shade 2019.
14. I am thankful that I won tickets to see the Steep Canyon Rangers!
15. I am thankful for new ideas and imagination!
16. I am thankful for Llumination and getting to participate in it with Bobbie. I am also thankful for Taiko Meditation.
17. I am grateful to know Greg Cooney. I appreciate his love for being active and working hard and enjoying Flagstaff.
18. I love Flagstaff and all of the fun things in town that support various non-profits (i.e. Creative Spirits).
19. I am thankful for wonderful businesses in Flagstaff who are willing to discuss new possibilities (Warners, re: coffee festival)
20. I'm thankful for Spring!
21. I'm thankful for Sun Sounds volunteers. 
22. I'm grateful for relatively easy traffic on the way to Casa Grande. 
23. I'm thankful I got to go to the Renaissance Festival with Scott & Isaac. 
24. I appreciate the beauty that is springtime in Arizona!
25. I am thankful to be a part of community Festivals!
26.  I am grateful for Dr. Carrie (chiropractor).
27.  I am grateful to be a part of Silent Sky!
28.  I am grateful that I get to be an example and resource for Kim to follow a different path.
29. I am grateful for Deana Tatro and her passion for creating beauty through community interactions.
30. I am thankful for nice weather and getting to work on the yard. 
31. I am thankful for lemon ginger mead from Drinking Horn Meadery. 

APRIL:

1. I am thankful for 7-year old "getting me" with April Fool's jokes (shoe's untied, hair sticking out...).
2. I am thankful to be a writer and thankful that I entered the writing contest! I am going on to round 2!
3. I am thankful to live in a community that practices fierce love, expansive sacred-mundane, and mindful spirituality. 
4. I am grateful for orgasms.
5. I am thankful to have people I love in my life.
6. I am thankful for fairy gardens.
7. I am thankful that I was able to work through some difficult pieces and complete round 2 of the writing contest. My categories: horror, a renovation, a researcher. Title: Renovate or Conflagrate. Brief synopsis: After a challenge from a travelling evangelist, one family's lives are changed forever.
8. I am grateful to have "sick time" at work that I can use to take care of my kids.
9. I am thankful for knowing about the body's natural tendency to heal using heat...
10. Taiko is a beauty-filled experience for me. I am so grateful to be able to participate in the experience that is Taiko!
11. I am thankful for beautiful stories and so grateful to be able to share Silent Sky in the historic Clark Telescope!
12. I am thankful for a warm home, clothes, and food. (It's cold out, today!)
13. I am grateful for my mom. She is stronger than she thinks, and more influential than she gives herself credit for. 
14. I am grateful to have taxes done.
15. I am grateful to have a curious mind and the ability to take things apart to see how they work (and see if I can fix them) and then put them back together. (Fixing the light on top of the wind spinner.)
16. I am thankful that we get to be a part of the kids lives. We went and saw Akiane's school play. 
17. I am grateful to have a job. 
18. I am grateful to hear & see the presentation about a couple's trip to My. Everest base camp. And grateful that I am currently not interested in doing that trek!
19. I am grateful for my chiropractor. 
20. I am grateful for good food, spending time with friends & family, and margaritas!
21. I am grateful to wake up. 
22. I am thankful for Mr. Mike Moran. His example of genuine caring for his students and athletes will forever be with me. I hope to be as compassionate and enthusiastic as he allows himself and those around him to be. 
23. I am grateful for spring thunderstorms!
24. I am grateful for current courts system for TRYING to do the right thing. 
25. I am grateful for storytelling via movies. (The Mustang. End Game)
26. I am thankful to have been able to spend time with Keliani today. 
27. I am grateful to Vora financial for letting us hold our audio description workshop at their place of business.
28. I am grateful to be able to spend time with my family.
29. I am grateful for good food.
30. I am grateful for watermelon!

MAY:

1. I am thankful to be witness to the reality of change (that people can actually change who they are when they put their minds to it).
2. I am thankful for DANCE!
3. I am grateful for doctors. 
4. I am grateful that I got to hang out with Keliani. It was fun going to see Dumbo. 
5. I am grateful for my yard.
6. I am grateful for volunteers at Sun Sounds of Arizona.
7. I am thankful for Peter Crowell. I truly appreciate his insight. 
8. I am grateful for beer & Taiko.
9. I am thankful that I got to watch Keliani's class play with everyone. 
10. I am grateful for Eli & Rand. It was wonderful to have breakfast with them. 
11. I am thankful for the travelling song played for me during the Taiko presentation at Haven Health.
12. I am thankful for my mom.
13. I am grateful for the Lodgekeepers of WWRL. 
14. I am thankful for the Hulla site team. 
15. I am grateful for end of the school year concerts.
16. I am grateful for Scott being willing to drive for Friday's parade. 
17. I am grateful for lavender pills. 
18. I am grateful for people who choose to serve in the armed forces. I am grateful that I got to play Taiko in the AFD parade. I am grateful that Findlay Toyota let us borrow a truck and trailer. 
19. I am thankful Kim&Jake made it home safely. 
20. Space
21. Space
22. Space
23. Space
24. Space
25. I am grateful to spend time with my in-laws. 
26. I am grateful for my mom being willing to look after my pets. 
27. Space
28. I am thankful I have a pretty awesome little car. I've had it since 2006 and I think it's great. 
29. I am grateful to have the chance to try a new pizza place. (Your pie)  I really liked it!
30. I am incredibly grateful for all of the ground work Rand Jenkins had done for Hullabaloo.
31. I am grateful to put on a great festival with beauty-full people! 

JUNE:

1. Hullabaloo!
2. Hullabaloo!
3. I'm grateful for a beautiful start of summer.  
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7. I'm grateful for Scott helping with set up.   
8. Made in the Shade!
9. I am grateful for the people who come and help with cleanup.
10. I'm appreciative of the beauty of today.   
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12.  I'm thankful for Jim & Peggy McMahon. 
13. I'm grateful for technology that allows people from across the country to gather and meet.
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15. WWRL! I'm grateful for the little sprinkles of rain today. I'm thankful for ancestors. 
16. WWRL!
17. I'm thankful tyo get to travel with Scott. 
18. Grateful for "sleep, park, fly"specials. 
19. Thankful to be able to help set up solstice celebration. 
20. Solstice!
21. Thankful to share space with beautiful people. 
22. Grateful to Jim &Mary for letting us hang out with them. 
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27. Thankful for getting to have dinner with Jessica, Matthias, Jerome &Scott.
28. Grateful for a great hike to waterfall with Jerome &Scott. 
29.  Grateful to have learned about Philz coffee!
30. Grateful for my home, my cat, my geckos.  

JULY:

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2. Grateful to my mom for helping me get tickets to Guam. 
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22. Grateful for everyone working the Museum Fire. 
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25. Grateful for all the people working the flood mitigation. 
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27. Grateful to spend time with grandpa George. 
28. Grateful grandpa has someone in his life to care for and who cares for him. 
29. Grateful for technology that allows people to travel great distances with ease. 
30. Grateful for family in all its quirky forms. 
31. Grateful for Bobbie and all the ways she shows up for me. 

AUGUST:

1. Grateful for my Chamorro dad. 
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SEPTEMBER:

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OCTOBER:

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NOVEMBER:

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DECEMBER:

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