Grateful? - Let Me Count the Ways

Mount Arrowsmith

as seen from the Quay

ourbc.com photo

Driving to the mall, I thrill at the way

the clouds shroud the mountaintops, 

layer upon layer, as if someone

has draped them artfully

in angel hair,

the occasional cedar 

pointing pokey spriggy fingers skyward

through the gaps.

I smile at smashed pumpkins alongside the road,

memories of Hallowe'en such a short time ago,

and now I'm Christmas shopping.

Raven flies low across my windshield.

Lead me, Raven.

Keep me Looking Up.

Christmas music and goodwill

in all the shops - it isn't Count-Down yet,

we are all still full of cheer.

A pensioner - ahem, another pensioner and I

(I keep forgetting)

exchange smiles in the line-up.

"Just shopping for the kids," she beams

as she stacks chocolate and small Yuletide treats

upon the counter and counts her bills and coins.

"Thank heavens for the Dollar Store!"

In one of the Only Two Possible stores

in which to find a real gift

in this gray little town,

I find The Perfect Thing for my daughter,

and all of my stern admonitions

(repeated yearly) about how this year 

Christmas will be Very Small 

go right out the window,

and I escape to my car 

clutching the package, smiling.

I mail off a Welcome to the Family box

for our newest puppy,

a huggable furry teddy bear 

just born to be loved,

rescued from a garbage dump 

in northern Saskatchewan

in minus 40 degree weather,

now destined to be loved and spoiled

for the rest of his life, 

and wish I could be there

to share the joy

when it is opened.

Christmas is not Christmas

without small kids

and puppies.

I narrowly avoid being T-boned as I pull out

from the Purolator lot, vision obscured 

by the Purolator truck, muttering

"I can't see! can't see!" then "Oops!"

Close one. But not this time.

Heading home, by now the blue blue hills

are more exposed,

wearing their clouds like a fluffy shawl,

draped low on their shoulders.

Beauty. Always. Everywhere.

Four dogs and two horses to greet me,

barks and whuffs,

as I pull in, Christmas lights 

winking from the windows.

And it may not be my dream,

it may not be the beach,

but it's what I've got,

right now

and, for today, it is

Enough.

flickr.com photo-Arrowsmith

posted for Laurie's prompt at Poetry Jam : to write a poem about things one is grateful for without using the words thankful or grateful.

and for Kim's prompt at Verse First : to take a walk, and Walk in Gratitude. I took a drive in between the walking :-)

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends south of the border. And Happy Being Alive to my friends everywhere else!