A one-day-long gratitude list

A few days ago, my sister wrote a Facebook post listing all her favorite elements of the summer so far. A gratitude list, essentially. Reading it underscored for me the fact that I’ve been a little bit whinier than usual in the past few weeks, dwelled a little bit too much, perhaps, on those parts of the summer that aren’t going exactly right. I should do a gratitude list too, I told myself then. Even if I feel more preoccupied right now with the not-so-great parts, I should remind myself of all that is truly great, as Sarah did: things like fresh peaches and unrushed mornings.

But today I could actually just list everything that happened to me yesterday and that in itself would compose a gratitude list, because yesterday was in many ways such a terrific day. We’re staying at my parents’ vacation condo in Portland for a couple of nights. My day started with reading a copy of Poets & Writers magazine and drinking coffee on the balcony overlooking the harbor while I waited for the kids to wake up. Once dressed and fed, they walked down to the corner store in search of a newspaper for me. They didn’t find the one I wanted, but they returned home full of the good cheer and harmony that result when I send them out together on the kind of walking errands they can’t do at home.

Later in the day, my friend Anjali and her daughters Elena and Vanessa arrived for a visit. Like yesterday, the kids wanted to play in the boat for a while, which was fine with us. Then Anjali and the girls went window-shopping around town, which gave me the chance for a good long run.

When I got back to the condo, Anjali and the girls were still out so I thought I’d go on a quick bike ride to try to solve some mysteries of the city’s geography that had been puzzling me. “Maybe Tim will go with me,” I thought, but knew it was unlikely because he was engrossed in one of his knights-and-dragons novels. “Sure, I’ll go with you,” he said when I asked. What a welcome surprise. We rode down alongside the Harbor and then up to Munjoy Hill and back along the Eastern Promenade, and returned from our bike ride just as the window shoppers returned.

After that we were all tired and needed some down time: Tim and Elena both read, Holly listened to a book on tape, Vanessa rested, Anjali and I talked. Then we went out to dinner and Tim and Holly each ate a massive bowl of steamed clams.

Afterwards, the kids played tag in an empty section of the parking lot. (Credit the First Lady: whereas once I’d see that and think “I hope they’re not in any danger of traffic or inconveniencing anyone,” now my first thought is “Oh good, they’re burning calories.”)

As promised, I took the three older kids to the candy store for dessert while Anjali headed back to the condo with Vanessa Although it took about twenty minutes of contemplation and negotiation for each of the three kids to settle on what they wanted, I couldn’t have asked for a better reward at the end: the young woman at the counter saying to me, “You have really well-behaved children. And I work all day in a candy shop, so believe me, I know what I’m talking about. I see the worst of the worst here!” And as if that wasn’t reward enough, the chocolate-covered marshmallow caramel was the perfect way to end the day.

So, my gratitude list, not even for the whole summer but just for yesterday: coffee on the balcony, happy kids, running, biking, playing in the boat, Tim and Holly’s joy over steamed clams, friends visiting, watching the kids play tag, compliments at the chocolate shop, caramel with marshmallows. What a great day. Listing the highlights, of which there were so many, just serves to remind me that on some days the moments of joy are obvious and other days they’re more subtle, but they are always there to be found. Just look. Every day, just look. And then, when possible, take time to make a list.