Three Beautiful Things 08/18/15: Slow Start, Gratitude for Travel, Kindness at TGI Fridays

1.  This happens some days, not very often.  I wake up at 5:30, tired, unrefreshed and take care of the dogs and help the Deke get out the door. I fight the fatigue for a while and then surrender and take a morning nap.  I'm very fortunate to be retired so that when this happens I can just deal with it, get some morning sleep and get on with my day.  Today I got on with my day at 10:45.

2. I completed Sibling Assignment #167 today and had a great time kickin' around in my flickr account looking for pictures I've taken that represent what the summer season has come to mean to me.  I felt deep gratitude for my good fortune in life.  I get to travel -- oh, not to Europe or Costa Rica or the Caribbean or Southeast Asia or other far away places-- but over the last few years I've had a good trip to NYC and to Newport, Oregon and have enjoyed travel in North Idaho and drove to Battle Ground, IN and even got to go to Nelson, British Columbia and so I wrote some about it and posted some pictures, here.  

3. After the 10:00 service at St. John's Episcopal Church on Sunday, a parishioner handed the Deke a fundraiser flyer: eat on TGI Fridays on Tuesday, hand in this flyer when cashing out, and fifteen percent of the bill goes to St. John's. So we had a late afternoon dinner at TGI Fridays. Nothing was special about the food -- as expected -- but my whiskey/ginger ale cocktail was strong and delicious and when we left, on our way to the car, Stan, one of the parishioners, saw us leave and left his table and came outside to say hello.  We hadn't noticed him and his wife and other church members as we left -- we are not accustomed to knowing anyone when we go out -- and I enjoyed that he came out to greet us and see if we enjoyed dinner.