#365Gratitude Day 181: Traveling

I just got back from a family trip to visit a relative who lives in Toronto.  I have a big history with travel.  As a kid I went to a lot of exotic places overseas.

It's been ages since I went to Canada.  Last time was 20 years ago to go skiing in Mte. Ste. Anne, in Quebec. 

This time we drove up through Niagara Falls, which were beautiful. I'm a hopeless romantic, so I stole a kiss from Missy right by the falls.

I saw a lot and did a lot in Toronto, and really like it there. I feel like I just scratched the surface of the place.

Driving was long, but not too rough. Definitely something I could do again. ​

Last night I came home to my cats, and my bed, and it was a very welcome thing after such a long trip. ​

I am grateful for the adventure of traveling, and equally grateful for the return to a comforting and familiar home. ​

Great place...

#365Gratitude Day 180: Reorienting

So I don't have a great sense of direction. Okay, that's a gross understatement. If I was in a wet paper sack with my ass touching the back of it, I'd have a hard time finding my way out. 

But that turns out not to really be a bad thing. 

There are many routes to the same destination. Often, as I'm traveling I find new things, hidden routes, a needed rest stop, who knows what. 

It's a hackneyed old saying that it's the journey that matters, not the destination, but that's because it's true. 

I'm grateful that I'm always able to reorient myself towards things, no matter how lost I get. 

#365Gratitude Day 179: Everything old is new again

I read a LOT.  During our recent move I decided to purge myself of old books I'd been carting around for years.  

I dutifully snapped pics or wrote down covers of many of them, intending to replace them with ebooks, which DON'T gather dust and make for heavy moving boxes. 

One side effect of this process is my decision to go back and re-read books I loved as a kid. I've started hunting down ebook versions of those books.  

The first of these is Greyfax Grimwald, by Neil Hancock. It's the first book of his Circle of Light series. 

I'm excited to read it as a (more or less) more mature reader and get to know it again. 

#365Gratitude Day 178: My friend Scott

Scott and I met at college, twenty-four years ago. 

Yep.  Twenty-four. 

Since we first met, I've moved nine times. Owned five cars. Had a dozen jobs.  Married twice. 

Yet still our friendship endures. 

I'm grateful for him.