I am grateful for the crunch of the gravel in the very early mornings.

I am grateful to live in small town USA where tomorrow I will wear shorts for the first time in a year or more and almost no one will notice.

I am grateful that our walks happen in the very early mornings.

I am grateful for the shower that takes off all the sweat and sticky after the very early morning walks.

I am grateful for the companionship of a best friend who insists that I get out of bed and go on a very early morning walk.

I am grateful that we don’t put ear buds in our ears and listen to podcasts while we walk in the very early morning. Our music comes from the nature and small town sounds around us and our conversations are just that – conversations.

I am grateful for brick streets, for gravel parking lots, for mowed grass where a sidewalk once worked, for no hills, for neighbors who trim their prickly shrubs away from their sidewalks that still work, and for early morning waitresses who yell “Gooooooood MORNNNNNING!!!” and don’t judge as they drive past us down Main Street. They won’t care about my shorts and legs tomorrow.

I am grateful for the road less traveled out here in small town USA, where golf carts and riding lawn mowers are just as suitable transportation as an F-150.

And for The Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck.