Thursday, November 24, 2011

Rain in the Desert

or A Time for Thanksgiving

We haven't had much rain recently, at least not enough to measure.  A tease of a storm blew through town on Monday that left a trail of perfume and a lot of flustered leaves in its wake.  It flung a lacy, mocking shawl of snow across the Sandias' rugged shoulders and then swirled away into the night, ignoring the rain gauge altogether.  Albuquerque has only had 3.48 inches of moisture this year, so even a tease is...maybe not welcome, exactly, but better than nothing. 

Learning to be grateful for every drop of rain also reminds you to see cause for rejoicing in every simple gift and every good thing.  That seems like an especially fine thing to remember today.  To those of you who join me in celebrating Thanksgiving, best wishes for a wonderful holiday, with all the warmth and joy the day calls for!  To those of you around the globe, I hope you won't turn down a glass, cheerfully raised in your honor.




















And by all means, please join me in another, in honor of small blessings.


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(The "word art" was prompted by Noel Kingsbury's recent post at Gardening Gone Wild, which featured some of Alec Finlay's work.)





13 comments:

  1. Slàinte mhath, Stacy. Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday...

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  2. Stacy - In NM this holiday weekend - spent the day in SF and will be near Grants (Cinnamon Rose B&B) till Sunday. Hopefully not too much rain in the forecast although we need every drop.

    Blessing to you and yours in this season of thanks and grateful appreciation of all things.

    MarkNDenver

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  3. You need rain? Join me in Seattle!! We have plenty to share this Thanksgiving. Your post, however, was a good reminder to be thankful for it....most of the time!

    Happy Thanksgiving.

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  4. Happy Thanksgiving as we find joy in simple blessings...lovely poem!!!

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  5. Beautiful post! And a good reminder to me to be thankful for even the rain! We've had inches this week! Wind too... I'm in Oregon....

    I love that pix!

    Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day today!

    Blessings abound!

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  6. Had to re-read the 2nd and 3rd sentences, Stacy - they were so beautiful. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. (Might just join you in a glass or two of something) Dave

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  7. swirled away, ignoring the rain gauge altogether.

    I'm with you, hopeful rain gauge ready. The leaves biff down on the roof from our neighbour's tall tree, but rain? Meh. And then how grateful we are for cloud to shield the worst of the sun, and air that feels moist.

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  8. Captivated with your word picture of the tease.
    Happy Thanksgiving Stacy.

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  9. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I didn't realize how little rain Albuquerque has had this year! I think most gardeners know not to ever complain about the rain - because not having it is paralyzing.

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  10. Happy Thanksgiving, Stacy, and enjoy the desert rain. That is a beautiful image of the stones under water. -Jean

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  11. Janet, do dheagh shlàinte. (I hope I said what I think I said...)

    Mark, it's wonderful to hear from you! I hope you enjoyed the weekend in NM and that the weather co-operated—Grants isn't an area I know well at all, though it's on the list to explore. (I was in the opposite end of the state for the holiday.) Blessings to you also—hope you're doing well.

    Karen, I have to admit that I stop being thankful for rain after about half a day of it... If you can manage gratitude for it at all in Seattle, you are an impressive woman!

    Donna, thank you—hope your holiday was chock full of those good, simple joys.

    Elaine, if I were in Oregon, this would have been a post about being grateful for sunshine—somehow it's harder to be grateful for what we have in abundance. Er, overabundance...

    Dave, thank you—and cheers.

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  12. Diana, my favorite forecast in New England was “afternoon brightening”—not actual sunshine or anything, just not quite as grim. For those of us in dry climates “afternoon humidity” is the equivalent, I guess. Hope your rain gauge sees some action soon.

    Thank you, b-a-g—it was a lovely holiday.

    Baffled, I hope you are enjoying some peace now in the weekend's aftermath.

    Holley, we made up some lost ground the second half of the year, but it's still been one of the driest on record. Hopefully we will both have more rain to be thankful for next year...

    Jean, thank you—where rain is concerned, there's definitely an “absence makes the heart grow fonder” factor.

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