It's Still Life

I. The Pike

Thankful to meet a child content with the simple pleasure of fishing.

He told me there was a great pike in that water and that one day he would catch it … and then let it go at once.

Some dreams are not about keeping what you find.

II. Better Late

Thankful for the solar panels, even if part of me wishes we had installed them years ago. Then again, perhaps waiting was its own small piece of luck. The technology has moved on so quickly that we may have arrived at just the right moment.

III. Delayed Gratification

Thankful to discover that the dishwasher has a delay button. Who knew!

Now I can time it to run when the solar storage battery is full, which feels like a very small piece of domestic wizardry.

IV. Love

Thankful for love at any age: new love, old love, love still finding reasons to laugh. I watched this young couple in a rowboat talking and laughing together, and for a little while their happiness seemed to lift the whole lake.

V. Bread Again

Thankful that our local bakery has new owners, and that after a year of uncertainty the ovens are warm again. Once more, the morning air smells of freshly baked bread, and the village feels a little more itself.

VI. Trains

Thankful for trains. I always relax on the journey to London and home again. One day I’d love to take the Flying Scotsman to Edinburgh. I once saw it pass through our local line, all smoke, steam, and noise, and the memory still thrills me.

VII. First Hint of Autumn

Thankful for the first true hint of autumn. A morning of thick fog, softened trees, and summer beginning to loosen its grip. Time to pack away the dresses and rediscover woollens, thermals, hats and gloves.

VIII. Good News

Thankful for my motorcycle-riding doctor, who gave me very good news this week. Some good news apparently arrives in leathers.

IX. The Last Rose

And here in my garden, one last rose is still refusing to admit the season has changed.

X. Sixes and TToT

Ever so thankful for Denise hosting the Six Sentence Story prompts, and the amazing writers who join in every week.

And I shall not forget, This: our Ten Things of Thankful. Do join in! The more who do, the more thankful the week. Easy, too: make a list, post it to your blog, pop the URL of your post into the blue InLinkz box below.