Blooming gratitude

When we left on our trip 12 days ago, my four Christmas cactus were just pushing out tiny buds. Today they are blooming in all their varied colors. This is my favorite one, the color just bowls me over. Even when we're not traveling before my most-loved holiday, it seems as though the days prior, just creep up on me, slowly, and then one day, the cactus bloom and I know it's that time... to plan the menus, to start cooking, and to make my mental list of all that I'm grateful for... a very long list it is, beginning here.

"If the only prayer you say in your life is 'thank you,' that would suffice." -- Meister Eckhart