Sunday Letter: 02.05.23

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Dear Sunday Letter friends,

We survived the snowy, icy end to January, so yay for that. Now, February is here, the groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter, and a Chinese balloon has been spying on us, just blatantly gliding along witnessing our craziness up close and personal. The balloon is no more, but I guess any way you slice it, February is starting out a bit dicey.

BUT over here at my house, I’m trying to focus on the good. In fact, some of my friends and I have decided 2023 is the year we will celebrate the small things. And I think you should join us!

Don’t we often let small accomplishments pass by without truly acknowledging them, because, well, they are small things? No big deal. Simply pieces of the larger puzzle.

Those pieces are essential. Big wins are made up of small wins; without the pieces, the whole is never achieved.

Look at me being so philosophical…

Celebrate the Small Things

Yesterday I discovered a whole box of yellow highlighters hiding in a cabinet, perfectly timed, this discovery, exactly when I needed a yellow highlighter. So maybe I won’t throw a party over highlighters, but hey, this simple thing made me happy.

Or how about my recent travel experience… The fact that our flights from Austin and Dallas both left on time without delays or cancellation—that’s something worth celebrating (because we are real quick to grumble when flights are delayed). Right?

Anyway, my point is, if we focus on the good and celebrate the small victories, maybe we won’t dwell so much on the bad. Plus, I think our brains need victories, no matter how small.

In addition to the newly found highlighters, I’m celebrating these three small things:

• doing yoga five days in a row;
• entering Bernice Runs Away in a book contest; and
• breaking the 28,000 word count on my NEXT book. 😊

What small thing will you celebrate this week?

Something I’m Loving

I always look for interesting leaves while out walking. Noticing unique patterns in nature, unusual color, an early bud on a cold winter’s morning—there is beauty in the fading color of winter.

This leaf caught my eye last week just before several inches of sleet covered our world. I picked it up and brought it home and now it’s drying out on the kitchen windowsill, a reminder that an entire world lives beneath melting ice. Leaves are slowly breaking down and turning to mulch, hibernating creatures will begin to wake soon, bulbs will begin to stir as daylight hours grow longer.

Two weeks ago, this leaf lay buried beneath eight inches of snow. That in itself seems like a small miracle to me.

I can’t identify the leaf, can you?

Broken Branch Remedy

During the recent heavy snowfall, one of our dogwoods suffered a large split in the crown. As soon as the snow melted (and ten seconds before the next wintry weather swooped in), we doctored the break as best we could.

It was sooooo windy and cold that afternoon, I’m afraid it wasn’t our best work. But with John pressing the limb back together and me wrapping it, we temporarily protected the split from the next round of ice.

I’ve saved other breaks this way, so I have faith this branch will be saved too.

When a deer rutted a gaping wound on the trunk of our just-planted cherry tree, I wrapped it and left it wrapped for nearly a year. Thanks to Bambi, the tree’s growth will forever be stunted, but we didn’t lose it.

Two years ago when crazy weather broke a lower branch on our serviceberry bush, I wrapped it too. It is still wrapped today, but healing nicely. I know because I periodically unwrap and check its status. Not only is the break almost completely grown back together, but that particular branch has bloomed and produced fruit each year since.

When the weather warms a little, I will re-wrap the dogwood, trying to do a better job. Then we will wait and see how this tree does going forward.

(If you have a similar tree wound, I highly recommend Tree Wrap which comes in a roll like an ace bandage. The fabric is breathable which is important for growth.)

Oh, About My Yoga Practice

Now that I think about it, maybe the fact that I did yoga five days in a row is a BIG thing rather than a small thing. While yoga should be a quiet time for reflection, self-care, stretching and pushing my body, here’s what my yoga time looks like:

Evidently I need to take up dog yoga.

Things Momma Says:

I have loved my electric blanket this week.

Thanks for being part of another Sunday Letter, friends.

Forty-three days until Spring!

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.