Have you noticed the trend in cars these days? Sam pointed it out to me or I would have been oblivious as usual. Cars no longer have bumpers or fenders. Huh. Didn’t notice.

Bumpers and fenders are like bubble wrap. Protection for the real deal.

I thought about that this morning on my 5 mile walk in the glorious chilly September air. I have plenty of bubble wrap protection for the real deal. I am just trying to walk that bubble wrap off, so I too can be like a shiny new car, all bumperless and fenderless.

At the end of this day, I am grateful for the hunger pangs – is it pangs or pains? – that are my reminder I can be hungry and still be okay.

I am grateful for the beginning color change of the leaves. It is barely, but I see it.

I am grateful Sam knows how to install a light. I can hang the crystals, but he knows how to do the real deal. That has absolutely nothing to do with bumpers and fenders and bubble wrap, except for the fact that it was surrounded in bubble wrap and styrofoam.

I am grateful for streetlights to pave my way in the darkness.

I am grateful for Orion and his belt that look down on me as I circle the cul-de-sac to the tune of sprinklers and crickets and early birds.

I am grateful for walks in the mostly dark, since I have bubble wrap and not cute walking clothes.

I am grateful for a Banana alarm clock, complete with whiskers and annoyance.

And finally, I am grateful for a trail to walk in the middle of the day across the street from work. I don’t care where the bubble wrap falls off, as long as it falls off.

I am not kidding.

I am so ready for fall temperatures, and this humidity seals the deal for me – I could not live in a climate that is like this year round. I don’t know how you Floridians and coastal people do it. No worries about overcrowding from us – we WILL NOT be moving there.

My sports bra tells me so.

After a 5 mile morning walk when it is 67 degrees and breezy but is also 116% humid the entire time, that 5 mile walk is NOTHING compared to trying to peel out of a sports bra.

I have to go into the closet without the light on, make sure Sam stays outside on the porch to cool down, so I can go to battle with the stretchy sopping wet straight-jackety contraption that had to have been invented by a comedian or a man with revenge on his mind.

I am grateful for sports bras because they do what they do and do it well.

I am grateful for privacy.

I am grateful for the ability to peel off the torture chamber, but these rotator cuffs are beginning to scream, just sayin’.

And I am grateful for cold fronts and the promise of a LOVERLY week of cool down.

It has been a week. From a road trip to Arkansas last Saturday and back the same day, to another road trip to Arkansas on Wednesday and back the same day, to a road trip to small town USA yesterday and back to KC today, less than 24 hours later, to a third road trip to Arkansas tomorrow and back the same day…I am tuckered out.

Sam said, “tuckered out” yesterday and I laughed hard on the inside, but then I thought about it and yes, that describes me at the end of this week.

Throw in 5:00 am wake-up every day, thank you Banana and/or Split aka my new alarms, and 5.2 miles walked by 7 am every day, I am tuckered out.

However. I am so grateful for a comfortable vehicle to ride in.

I am grateful for a husband who is a joy to travel beside and drives the whole way(s) so I can work on this laptop.

I am grateful for changing landscapes, from the manicured lawns of Overland Park to tree covered hills that my brother calls Ozark mountains, to the gorgeous beauty of the Flint Hills, and finally, miles and miles and miles of farm fields dotted with cattle.

I am grateful for the woman who walks her baby every morning, pushing her little stroller. Sam pointed out to me yesterday morning to look inside when she walked by. Her baby is a cat. That might be bizarre to Sam, but I thought it was adorable. He nixed the idea of ordering a stroller for our babies.

I am grateful for a morning that included gentle thunder and big raindrops, even if I was a mile from home.

I am grateful for the pre-dawn views that are the best backdrop for quiet worship. Most days now we have this view:

But this morning, I had this view:

I do not understand how people can sleep until almost noon. Or even 9 am. I used to be that people. I am no longer that people, however. The best part of the day is the beginning, full of promise and hope for a great day. Until the best part of the day is the ending, when the day is done and I can put the road trips to rest and crawl into a comfortable bed.

That is what I am looking forward to tonight…since I am tuckered out.

I am very grateful I was not called to be a nurse. I have issues with adult personal space. I have issues with adult hygiene. I have issues with other adult people issues like medical grossness.

It is true, I cannot cover it up.

Odd, I don’t have near the sensitive stomach when it comes to grandchildren. I think that must be the Mom gene that God made and gave to me. I can deal with grandchild gross for the most part – however, I am slightly concerned that I may someday have to come to terms with grandchildren becoming adults with hygiene and unpleasant/hideous medical issues…

When I was a little girl, my mom would clip her fingernails in the car and I thought I might actually die. Not actually actually. I was just exaggeratingly mortified. That’s all.

When people talk about skin care and the lack thereof or talk about that show on cable called “Dr. P*mplepopper,” I kind of dry heave. There. That word. Huh-uh. Can’t do it.

I don’t know how nurses do it – how they talk about the gross things and deal with the disgusting things and clean up the repugnant nastiness that our bodies create.

I am just so grateful God knew I wasn’t cut out for that kind of sacrifice.

This morning, I was minding my own business and working away at my computer when the phone rang here in the office. It was “Mrs. Smith” and she didn’t let me get in a word before she proceeded to tell me her doctor recommended she call and set up an ENT appointment for her ear infection that started about 3 weeks ago and she began having green gook come out of it last week…

“Uh, ma’am, excuse me, ma’am. (Please do not say another word because I am dry heaving on this end.) You have the wrong number.”

I cannot deal. The flakes, the wax, the goo, the clippings, the yuck. I am nauseated just typing this.

I am sooooo grateful I was not called to be a nurse.

I am sooooo grateful others were and can take care of Mrs. Smith and all the adults who have issues.

I am sooooo grateful my grandchildren are still sweet and cute and little and haven’t accumulated, you know…issues…

I went for a 5 mile walk today on this anniversary of my first bone infection surgery of a year ago. It was 5:45 am. The sun was making its way around the earth but had not yet shown its face, so my companion was the moonlight, streetlights, crickets, and the early morning on-the-way-to-workers.

I reallllly do not like getting up at 5:30 am. I always dread it. But then I am glad I forced myself once I get going down the street.

I am grateful for this quiet beginning to the day.

I am grateful Sam was able to sleep longer and I didn’t wake him.

I am grateful for an Audible membership to listen to books as I walk.

I am grateful deer are peaceful creatures and these city deer do not mind humans. I know it is not good for them, but it sure is fun to walk and happen upon one or more in these early mornings.

I am grateful for kind on-the-way-to-workers who patiently wait for me to get across the street.

I am grateful to be learning as I walk, thanks to an enlightening book.

I am grateful for the gift of seeing the bunnies and squirrels and cats and occasionally the fox.

I am grateful to have heard an owl this morning.

I am grateful to have experienced all this nature even in the middle of city.

However.

When you are walking along, deep into the topic in your ears and enjoying the pre-dawn beauty all around and don’t notice the trap you are about to faceplant into…

Let’s just say I am finding it difficult to be grateful for the incredible artwork creation that caused me to spazz dance in front of the neighbors at 6:30 am.

I am grateful for an office with a view.

I am grateful for people who wear t-shirts with funny sayings that make me smile.

I am grateful for uneven sidewalks – they make me pay closer attention.

I am grateful to have heard the first chick-a-dee of the season this morning.

I am grateful for the neighborhood fox.

I am grateful for a gentle breeze.

I am grateful I can see all the colors.

I am grateful for good shoes that keep my feet from hurting.

I am grateful to reflect on one year ago today when I entered the hospital not knowing how serious it was going to be. Most anniversaries are good because they are a time for reflection about beginnings. Sometimes those beginnings are not so great, but anniversaries allow us to see how far we’ve come.

So, I am grateful for God’s complete healing and the gift it is to walk.

I am grateful for simple pleasures, like being directly underneath a brave soul who is way up high in a balloon.

Or like seeing the neighborhood fox in front of our house before 7 am this morning on our walk.

I am grateful for the early morning sounds of late summer – the crickets and an occasional cicada and katydid providing background music for our walk while we were listening to the early birds singing their songs.

I am grateful for a Dad who is doing so well.

I am grateful for fun news from a sister.

I am grateful for a 2-year-old birthday.

I am grateful for a ceiling fan of cool air.

I am grateful for cats that make me laugh.

I am grateful for face masks and those who wear them.

I am grateful for a husband who hangs out in my office.

I am grateful for phone calls with a daughter.

I am grateful for the lessons I am learning from good books, from our small group, from powerful messages on Sunday, from observing how others are responding to the pandemic issues.

And I am grateful for the end to this day, and for a boss who let me finish the day at home. Now, to get up, up, and away from the couch to go find more to be grateful for on an evening walk…