Posted by Suzanne McMinn on January 13, 2008 @ 5:05 am
Daily Farmhouse Journal
I spent a day recently with a woman I haven’t been able to forget. She’s a distant relative. I had never seen her before and I may never see her again. The first thing she said when we met was, “You are stunning!” Wow, I liked her right off the bat. We spent the day driving around, looking at some old family landmarks. She thought the trees were stunning. The buildings were stunning. I swear, if I’d picked up a rock, she would have said it was stunning. It was almost as if she’d been dropped down from Mars and had never seen Earth before. Everything was absolutely stunning. (So much for me, LOL.)
Through the course of the day, I went from thinking she was a little odd to thinking she was one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met and wishing I could be more like her. I also found out through the course of the day that she didn’t have an easy or perfect life that had created this sunshiny attitude. She had experienced a serious medical event–a brain aneurisym. She had lost her career. She’d had a failed marriage. She had a number of other problems, large and small, just like anyone else, and yet she was unrelentingly positive. Her lingering medical condition had resulted in some concentration problems, she explained, which finally made sense of the way she only mentioned any of the downsides of her life in passing on her way to noticing the next stunning structure, stick, or person. She didn’t have the ability to dwell on negatives. She was in the moment, completely, utterly, blissfully.
By the end of the day, I was thinking, I want a brain aneurisym!
That seems a little drastic, though.
But, you know, this ridiculously messy “farm shih tsu” (as I call him to explain his embarrassing state when I take him to the groomer) is stunning.
The trees reflecting on the pond outside my cousin’s mother’s house are stunning.
The view of cows grazing in the meadow on the next farm over is stunning.
The sun breaking through morning fog over our farm is stunning.
And this girl who likes to climb onto the roof outside her unfinished new room just to drive me crazy is especially stunning.
What’s stunning in your world today?
7:25
am
9:05
am
Absolutely stunning, S!! I haven’t been outside yet today, but the view of the bayou from my kitchen window is stunning. The sound of the birds discovering I left them seeds is stunning The sun and the sky are stunning! And now, I’m off to have a stunning day! So, thanks!
BW
9:22
am
The sun coming through my old oak trees today is stunning. As is the cool, crisp, fresh air when I opened my door, stunning. I woke up another day, stunning!
:J
9:59
am
Hehehe! I’m really glad (for once) to be living in a 1960s rancher without upstairs windows. My kids would probably have broken several bones by now.
What’s stunning in my world today?
* an especially stunning batch of old-fashioned oatmeal. (Kicks instant oatmeal’s butt.)
* a stunningly clean closet. Makes me happy. It’s a rarity.
* a stunning, unasked-for smooch from my two-year-old. Again, it’s a rarity. He’s not a cuddler.
10:15
am
This post is stunning, because you are making me think about what it is that would make me happy. Maybe I need to take a drive. Thank you for sharing your life. I just wonder if I can find the courage to do what you have been doing. But just thanks for showing me there is an alternative and it can be achieved.
11:01
am
We all too often overlook our blessings. Thanks for the reminder of all that is stunning. And now I’m off to enjoy my stunning family.
11:42
am
I agree that this post is stunning. What a way to start the day to make me count my blessings. Sad that probably would take a brain anuerisym for a lot of us to look at the positives.
12:28
pm
Your morning fog picture is stunning.
12:31
pm
I look forward each day to reading your posts. You bring “stunning” rays of light into my days! This post’s message: Count Your Blessings! (no matter how small)
1:41
pm
I am simply stunned!
By my 10 hedgehogs, by my Cocker Spaniel, by my Arabian mare, by my Christmas decorations that are still up, by the fact that I woke up healthy this morning and by the fact that I am going to my nephew’s 16th birthday party right now!
1:51
pm
Sleeping in this morning & making pancakes for my kids was pretty stunning.
2:11
pm
I am finding the ability to communicate what lies deep in the heart one of the most stunning things in my life. The fact that others care and are eager to share in that act of communication is also stunning. And the book of Psalms is just packed full of stunning.
2:59
pm
I think this is the first time I’ve commented on your blog - I think it is stunning and so was my Sunday School class this morning!
3:38
pm
What a wonderful post today! How blessed you are to have met this wonderful lady with such a positive outlook in the midst of having such a big negative in her life. What a different world it would be if we all could have this attitude and always look for the positive!
Thank you so much for sharing that. For lack of a better word I’ll use one here that has sure had a work out today….This post is so STUNNING, your words are so STUNNING and YOU are so STUNNING!! I find myself coming here each and every day for my STUNNING fix of Chickens in the Road!!
….and suddenly I am seeing so many things in my life and all around me that are too STUNNINGLY numerous to mention!!
Hugs,
Hope
3:49
pm
I think you all are stunning! Thank you for being here.
3:56
pm
What a beautiful post, Suzanne! And stunning pictures!!!
5:58
pm
The sun that is shining today is just stunning!
Thanks for the stunning pics.
6:25
pm
Loved today’s pics and especially the STUNNING post. Reminds me to enjoy everything as it comes . . .
9:46
pm
I had a beautiful sunny day today…stunning. But what is really stunning is that chocolate pudding cake sitting in my kitchen. Yum! Thank you for the stunning recipe.
11:31
am
I agree, this post is stunning! And, thank goodness. I need a reminder–pretty much everyday–to stay in this moment, to enjoy my life, and to be grateful for everything.
Also, thanks for the pictures–I love to see your farm.
9:01
am
i just found your blog, and i think it’s stunning.
6:35
pm
I’m glad that the Times Record did the story on you. I’m a lifetime country girl, and thank God for everyday I am alive to enjoy my family and surroundings. I think you’ve brought to light for many people, what a blessings the small things of life are.
I’ve already informed my sister of this site, and will tell many more so they can also share.
Thoroughly enjoyable. The photo’s are very impressive, as well as your writing. Keep up the good work, and positive attitude. Country life can be hard, but I’m sure you are the type of person who will enjoy every moment, as well as your children. They will thank you when they grow up for bringing them to the Slanted Little House.
As a child, we also had a cellar with a chain on the door, and in the winter, it was filled with lots of apples from our own orchard, pears that came from our farm, and all the canned goods that my mother prepared, the aroma was breath taking when you opened the door. Oh What Memories.
Speaking of small towns, and country living, just from your writing, I know the family you speak of. I hope you will always be AT HOME IN ROANE COUNTY.
Sharon
4:56
pm
You hit the nail on the head…notice the simple things..and today, I did just that, as I noticed “Rocky” the neighborhood squirrel, hiding a nut in our backyard, marking his spot, near the Crepe Myrtle tree and then looking like a little jack hammer as he hammered it into the ground…and I noticed he came back later with another nut, but climed the fence to plant it in another yard…and I noticed my darling Petey bird parakeet, loving the outdoors, sitting on the porch, as he talked in complete sentences to the world and nature with “momma loves that big boy”..”high darlin!”…”it’s daddy’s birthday” and on and on and kissing sounds to all his buds…I sat at the dining room table, thanking God for such a gorgeous day that HE has made and for allowing me these simple delights and spending quiet time in His word (the Bible) and in his Presence.