Thankful.

In high school, whenever I had a bad day, I made a list in my planner of all the things for which I was thankful. Usually it was "Diet Coke Mood Adjustment" or "Escaped third period for coffee with MJ" - overly simple stuff (and, oddly, mostly beverages) intended to remind me that the world was lookin' up. I still like doing that; it's why I created this blog. So without further adieu:

Today, I'm thankful for:

*Running, even though it sucked. I did 10 miles outside of Basalt on a beautiful back road with views of snowy Sopris. It was so warm that I ran in shorts and got a watch tan. The fact that the whole thing was a survival shuffle doesn't even really matter.

*The chai in my cup

*Church yesterday. I'm still high from it. The service was great because the director of Rainbow Trail was there to lead (so we sang camp songs, like Light of the World & Holy Time - Mom, I thought of you), but even that paled in comparison with communion. Honestly, it was one of the most cathartic experiences of my life. Because it was Dìa de los Muertos, and because Spanish custom has families picnicking at the graves of their loved ones on that day, communion went like this: first, Pastor JC pointed out the 3 bottles of hand sanitizer in the sanctuary; then he told the whole congregation to come gather at the altar - and everyone balked at first, but then obliged; and then he brought out 4 large loaves of braided Mexican egg bread and 2 pitchers of red wine; and we said the Lord's Prayer together, and then "picknicked" communion until ALL the bread and wine were gone. Cups were passed around, and then loaves, and everyone pulled off pieces of bread and talked and poured (a LOT) of wine in their cups and talked some more, and a couple of people played guitar, and we ate and drank and sang and smiled until the sacrament was over. It probably took 15 minutes. I'm telling you, it was the most amazing experience. It was exactly what communion is supposed to be - fellowship with each other and the Lord and thanksgiving for what God has given us, including each other.
*Talking with (and/or playing therapist to?) both MM and AB tonight, then Facebook chatting BS. I miss my friends.

*The amazing Anne Lammot book I'm reading, Traveling Mercies. She is so flawed AND so good.

Monday Matters

This morning, when I was in Starbucks working on my essay, my friend SC and I were watching the snow fall and talking about our excitement - about winter, about skiing, about eggnog. Et cetera. And the dairy delivery man must have heard me, because as he walked past us, he set a quart of eggnog on our table and said, "Enjoy, ladies!" We dissolved in giggles - how random is that? - and after he left, I walked up to the counter and asked the sweet baristas to make us eggnog lattes out of our gift. They obliged (at no cost, natch). What a morning!

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Look at what our sweet government is doing! I just got my hands on a shiny, new, FREE copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. Although I read it freshman year of high school, I'm reading it again today, because there are events in Aspen starting on Wednesday. Now go and do likewise! I'm sure that if this is such a big deal in my small town, it's an even bigger deal elsewhere.
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The fall colors are just past peak in Snowmass. This is what my place looked like the other day:
and
And this is what it looked like this morning! There's almost enough snow to ski up on the Cirque...
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Last night I went for a six mile run up Independence Pass (well, the bottom of the pass anyway). It was raining, and the further up the pass I ran, the more the rain turned into snow. About three miles in, my iPod died, which really annoyed me - until I realized that there were elk bugling all around me! It was surreal! I think God was trying to say, "Hey, Kels, check in!!"
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This made me BEAM yesterday. My favorite band playing the theme song to my favorite show! It's just delightful.