Celebrating the Ordinary

I’m a bit of a loner. Sure I follow the crowd sometimes, but generally speaking I go my own way more often than not. When someone poses a challenge, sometimes I jump in and sometimes I don’t.

This time I am jumping in, at least part way.

A blogging friend, Marie from Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer, put out a “challenge” last week to fellow bloggers. She asked those interested in participating to share a photo each day for one week of someone or something that gives or brings pleasure or a feeling of gratitude into our lives. The intent was to share these photos on our blogs or on Facebook. The intent was to celebrate the ordinary.

Well, I don’t post on my blog every single day. If I tried to keep up with that pace, I’d surely get nothing else done.

Plus, I’m not sure that many people are interested in what I have to say every single day.

I don’t want to push my luck!

I admire bloggers who post daily. I’m not quite sure how they manage.

Anyway, today I am participating.

When Marie posed this challenge, I immediately thought of my family, friends and pets of course, but I also thought of something else quite beautiful and steadfast that brings me a feeling of gratitude each and every day – my own backyard. More specifically, it’s the trees in my yard. Even more specifically, it’s the towering white pines in my backyard.

These marvelous old trees are calming, healing, grounding and simply lovely to look at.

When hubby and I purchased our home here in Wisconsin seven years ago, we made our purchase primarily because of the lot.

The yard is what drew us in, or again, more specifically the trees did. The house was a fixer upper and then some.

Yes, it was the trees that closed the deal for us, and in a sense they continue to “close that deal” every single day.

So, I decided to share a couple photos of “my” towering pines, which of course, belong to no one and certainly not to me. These majestic giants were here long before me and will remain here long after I’m gone. They’re sturdy. They’re reliable. They’re quite spectacular and they bring me pleasure every single day. All I have to do is remember to pause and look at them.

Trees of any variety are great reminders to celebrate the ordinary. 

They’re just trees, but to me they’re a whole lot more. (I’ll share more about that sometime).

Now I need to stop “talking” about trees and just share the photos!

Thanks for posing this challenge, Marie.

If you’re also participating in the challenge or decide to later on, feel free to share your link.

I may or may not jump in again this week.

Who knows?

What’s an “ordinary” thing in your life that brings you a feeling of gratitude?

Do you have a favorite kind of tree?