spt - me and my shadow

it is here.
that cinnamon-scented, pumpkin-flavored, amber-tinted time of year when we celebrate the harvest, the shorter days, the warmth of families. our cupboards are full and our tables are laden; the hearth is warm and alive! layers are layered, then shed, as we scurry from store to store, from house to house. tired, flushed faces beam from behind mugs of hot cocoa and soft snores come from the living room as football games carry on across the television screen.

a far cry from the pilgrims' days, for sure. for many, american thanksgiving has become a mere prelude to the insanity of a highly commercialized holiday season. we are busy traveling and cooking and eating (i had my *first* thanksgiving meal yesterday!). there are neighbors to greet and relatives to hug and parades to be watched! who has time to give thanks??

we do.

your challenge this week is to find a quiet moment. give thanks for all that you have been given, all that you have given in this past year. take advantage of a pocket of an afternoon when you can slip away and be thank-full. we can all make time for this very important date with ourselves, with only our shadow along for company.

What is life? It is a flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. - Crowfoot



photo credit found here