Fall Gratitude

 

In light of the horrific US election results, I feel the need to perk myself up and do a gratitude post.  First up Fall.  Glorious Fall.  Beautiful colors, dry and warm weather, this Fall has been one for the ages.  And I’ve gotten a lot of riding in.

Second is family.  My husband is a rock and our adult children are doing well, daughter with a great job and currently doing her Master’s in Electrical Engineering and son three semesters from graduating with a Civil Engineering degree.  But more importantly, they are thoughtful people capable of compassion for others and themselves.  Sp proud of them.  Photo is of the Green Day concert my daughter took me to for my Mother’s Day present.  We had so much fun-screamed, danced, sang, and people watched to (good) excess.

Third is gratitude to be surrounded by pets inside and out.  I love having a farm and the horses at home but I also really enjoy the inside cats and dog, and the outside cats.  Above is a picture of Fifty Shades of Grey who was an outside feral cat of many years before I semi-tamed her and convinced her to be an inside princess.  She is living her best retirement life.

Fourth is satisfaction that I finally lost the fifteen pounds that has been hanging on for a few years.  Nothing revolutionary, just following the recommendations on Nutrivore.com of whole foods, lots of vegetables-eating the rainbow-limited sugar, and less than 20% of calories coming from ultra processed foods.  So far it’s been working for me and I don’t feel super deprived.  Also, I do yoga for my bad back, which helps a lot, but recently found a stretch for my psoas that has made my back completely pain free.  Three cheers for YouTube.

Last is my current foray back into Dressage Naturally.  It’s been a while and I am loving the Video Classroom (so much better than watching the news!).  The basic alignment exercise is working wonders for Cruise and I love the positivity and concepts of DN.  It’s really interesting coming back after a lot more natural horsemanship and dressage education.  Things that didn’t work for me or I didn’t understand last go through are now much clearer.

What are your positives for Fall?