Gratitudes

Out my desk window is a pergola, the roof of which I recently replaced with new polycarbonate panels. Previously, there’d been holes all over the roof that leaked rain. Now, it’s dry as a bone and that’s pleasing. To complete job, I installed gutters so that the rain run-off doesn’t spill off the roof and splatter back into the pergola space. Tonight, I took out the trash to hear the pitter patter pitter patter of the rain, the sound of the water streaming into the gutter, and the slosh of the water running from the downspout to the ground. Extremely pleasing.

Today was the 3rd day having the 3 kids home from daycare and pre-school. I nearly lost my mind and was surprised to have one moment of relative calm while we were all watching TV and eating pistachio nuts from the shells. Until now, this activity has always been disallowed or extremely closely monitored. While it could have been my don’t-give-a-shit-anymore state of mind, I’d like to think the moment was another small indication that we’re slowly coming out of the woods.

Today is my parent’s 60th anniversary. I’m grateful they got together and don’t know where I’d be without them.

Last weekend, we finally replaced the moldy and broken foundation under our mattress. Who knows what toll the mold has taken on our wellness for the past year+, but the broken supports have been a very noticable bummer for a while. we didn’t realize just how much of a bummer until we slept on the new foundation. What a relief.

Also, with the twins sleeping better now, we have slowly come to forget how damn miserable the last couple years have been for sleeping. The last 4 years, for that matter, as the 4 year old wasn’t sleeping well until he was 2.5 or so either. This week the kids are all sick so there’s been wake-ups and whining that have made us grateful and aware that that’s not our normal life anymore.

During the shelter-in-place quarantine of 2020, the second album of the amazingly-talented Zephahiah Ohora was on heavy rotation from my garage stereo. Listening to the Music (2020), like This Highway before it, is the glistening kind of record that makes me wish I was an influential music writer or posted things to a blog people paid attention to. Following Zeph on social media for a few years now, I’ve enjoyed learning what a humble, earnest dude and what a truly professional songwriter he is.

My intro to Zeph came via Jon Graboff, one of the most talented pedal steel guitarists in music, whose social media I have also been following for a while. Jon mentioned being proud of the work he’d put down for Zeph’s This Highway. While Jon’s playing is always superb, it seems so perfectly intwined in the songs that it’s hard to believe the two are merely session mates and not joined-at-the-hip touring mates, as Jon and the late great Neal Casal were.

And then there’s the Neal Casal influence. Neal produced Listening to the Music and although I’m not familiar enough with his production work, it warms my heart to know that the record is imprinted with Neal’s spirit, as one of the last projects he was involved with before his passing.

Zeph’s words suggest to me that it’s not easy being an old country soul living in New York City–or anywhere–these days. I hope he’s doing well enough with his Bandcamp and other support to continue to do what he does because his honest, authentic songs are a gift to us all.

“People think you have to be from Texas or Nashville to play this music,” says Zephaniah OHora, “but that’s not the way I see it. Country’s all about being true to yourself and telling honest, authentic stories. You can do that anywhere.”

from zephaniahohora.com

I haven’t always been a recipe reader. Becoming one has made me realize how cool it is for people to share not only their ingredients and instructions, but their passion for food and cooking evident in their words and images. The recipe curation I see online inspires me to take more seriously the recipe collection I keep in Evernote, so that I can easily recall and share my favorites with others. This year, I’m going to attempt to write recipes even for the family favorites we know by heart so they’re sharable too.

In addition to being grateful for my wellness and mobility, I am grateful to have food and amenities nearby. Tonight, when the wife and kids got home, I took Matteo and Levi out in the blue wagon to pick up some dinner. Before we settled where we are, we looked at over 100 homes, many of which were in the hills or in areas with only houses nearby. I always hoped we’d end up somewhere flat. Nice to have places to stroll to with the kiddos.

This morning, I woke up grateful to be living in a democracy that chose love over hate in our recent national election. Grateful to know that since his swearing in yesterday, the new administration has been working to mop up 4 years of bullshit and will continue to do so for the days, weeks, months, and years to come. While there will continue to be plenty to be critical of, there’s peace of mind knowing that so much evil has left the White House and that a transition of power took place without (further) incident yesterday.

On just day two of my 365-day exercise of gratitude comes an enormous one: the inauguration of President Joe Biden. After (over) 4 years of grueling lies, vial hate, and so much injustice comes a new day for me, my family, the country, the world, and Mother Earth. I am grateful our country chose love over hate and hope for better days ahead!