This morning my friend, Moon, and I were about to finish our hike, when this bright orange cluster of something, a few yards off the trail, caught my eye. It was practically glowing near the forest floor, a beacon shining among masses of brown, wet leaves.
“Are those mushrooms?!” I said.
I had never seen mushrooms that color, ones that almost resembled flowers. But it was the only answer that made sense. They were growing on the trunk of a fallen tree.
I walked off the trail and toward the tree, but hesitated when I was 10 steps away. Because I was wearing shorts, I examined the leaf piles and green vines poking their heads above the surface, hoping there wasn’t poison oak.
I took my chances.
“If I scream, it’s a snake,” I called back to Moon as I stepped forward.
And how richly I was rewarded, on this last day of July, for “braving” nature.
It was like receiving a gift of one of my favorite things, in one of my favorite colors.
So, I thought sharing this story would be an excellent way to start my July 2024 gratitude list. I’m thankful for my friend who consistently gets outdoors with me, where we always feel better afterward than when we started, and for this discovery today, that made me so stinkin’ happy.
Other things I’m grateful for this month:
- Our weekend trip to Brevard & Asheville, NC.
- Family visiting from FL & another chance to see my brother & SIL.
- Meals out with good friends.
- Good progress on the tropical art collection. While I wanted it to be complete by today, I’m more than halfway finished and know the timing will work out the way it should.
- Releasing the CHN logo t-shirt. It wasn’t something I expected to do but am glad it happened!
- Releasing 3 new everyday card designs.
- A chance to catch up with a friend I hadn’t seen in 2 years.
- Finally investing in a Canvas overhead phone holder/lamp. It makes recording content much easier!
- Getting 3+ inches of hair lopped off. Way overdue.
- Candlelight.
- Seeing a fox again for the first time since last summer.
- Laughing at our “bully” hummingbird, who chases other hummers away from the feeder, and goes after other types of birds that are 5x his size.
- When I first created the CHN Instagram account, I named it “copperhousenth” because spelling out “north” used too many characters. However, sometime between then and now, Instagram increased the username limit. So, I’ve made the change to “copperhousenorth“, which makes sharing easier and matches the Facebook account. It’s the little things, you know?
- The smell of (turkey) bacon cooking in the kitchen.
2 Responses
I am grateful that I have a BEAUTIFUL yard all done with sweat and tears of my husband. When he moved in way back, he asked me to allow him to do the yard instead of paying someone. Best decision EVER!
It’s wonderful he has a natural desire to care for the yard and you both can appreciate it. Several things to be grateful for. ♥