For the simple things this day

For the beach: sand, salt, water that laps at my feet,

cold, causing my breath to catch;

for sandpipers that skitter frenetically, giving me a chance to pause and wonder if they ever

actually pull anything tasty from the wet sand at the water’s edge;

for the cloud cover in all its grays and blues as it gives way to more and more peach and

orange and yellow as the sun warms my skin;

for sand beneath and between my toes, ground me here in this place, in this moment;

for the friend who offered this gift of space and time and quiet and stillness;

for the grace to sit and be and think and write and read;

O Lord, this day, I give you thanks and praise.