*Plenty* - an erasure poem by Drew Myron

Thank you for spending Thankful Thursday with me, for keeping me accountable, appreciative, and grateful for things big and small. Attention attracts gratitude, and gratitude expands joy, and my gratitude grows when shared with you.

Some days are more difficult than others, to sort through the grim, to find the good. Here's what I've found to appreciate this week:

It’s a season of abundance.

In the orchards nearby, cherries hang heavy on sun-drenched trees. We pick and pick, more than we can eat. Under the thick canopy of branches, the deep red fruit feels like unexpected treasure and we can’t believe the fortune we hold in our hands.

At home, the blueberry bushes planted last fall have produced an unexpected bounty. The skinny shrubs struggled through winter, then wind and rain, and finally emerged with dusty purple reward. It feels a miracle, this simple plenty.

But how long we waited for summer, for this fever of heat rising like a thermostat now measuring joy. We loll in the heat, until the oven is oppressive. Then quickly, we want escape from the string of 100-degree days. A friend likens the heat wave to hot yoga. “I pushed myself,” she says, explaining the merits of too-much. “I leaned into the heat and taught my body to adjust and my mind to accept.” The discomfort was turned into a physical and mental experiment in fortitude and plenty.

Plenty, abundance, appreciation. Want it, get it, know it, hold it. The theme runs through our lives.

With that in mind, I offer this praise of plenty:

Ode to Heat

Praise flip flops,

tank tops and

linen relief.

Praise the cool

tile floor and a

morning breeze.

The early birds

chirping to cherries

sweetening by

every degree.

Praise Otter Pops

and river swims.

Languid days and

breezy books.

Praise the beauty

of a frosted glass

and ice cubes rattling

in my tonic & gin.

Praise open

windows and

starry nights.

Praise this sun,

how easily it

erases the wreckage

of a winter long gone.

— Drew Myron

Please join me in Thankful Thursday, a weekly pause to express appreciation for people, places, things and more. Big or small, practical or profound, what are you thankful for today?