Goodness, yesterday was so packed full of marvelous surprises I was too pooped to sit down and document all that I was grateful for by the end of the day.

First…

A beautiful early-morning walk through very heavy, thick, warm summer fog down at the ocean. I was enchanted to find the remains of a beach fire in the dawn fog, still warm and smoky next to the concrete steps that lead up towards the ocean, to nowhere. A bit further into the fog were a number of fisherpeople – men and women – all dressed in high waterproof boots and coveralls so that they could wade into the high tide, with their poles firmly planted into the sand and their lines cast out to sea. All Asian (I live in a largely Chinese neighborhood.) It was beautiful and peaceful. I wandered among them, enjoying the waves and the fog, and all of the seabirds.

At the end of my walk, I went to my favorite community cafe, Trouble Coffee. And I realize that I forgot to mention in my first Gratitude post my immense gratitude for Trouble, and it’s owner Giulietta, and her story… in short, she created Trouble as a place for people to gather when they are in trouble, though there is a whole lot more to it than that. A lot of very interesting artistic people are magnetized there (many are also surfers :)) and for whatever reason I was also magnetized there within my first week of living in SF… I just walked out my front door and started walking and ended up there, 1.5 miles away. On this day – yesterday – I am grateful for the kindness of the barista who was there, who recognized me (which I did not expect) and wanted to know how I was doing. And then for the really interesting conversation with the fellow sitting next to me. And then for the unexpected and meaningful interaction with the owner Guillietta who reached out to me last week, and happened to be in the food co-op where I quickly stopped after leaving Trouble on my way home again.

I’m grateful for the surprise phone call from my friend from Greece who I have not seen in so many years. We had a long, wonderful, meaningful conversation that really hit home. It is always incredible how easily we reconnect with our close friends even when we have not seen or spoken to them in years. That was an important reminder. And she told me some things that I needed to hear, that only she could tell me. That was quite fortunate for me.

I am grateful for the relaxed and fun evening out with my housemate. It has been a while since we have gotten to do that together. I think we both enjoyed that a lot.

Last but not at all least, I am very grateful for the white butterflies that keep flitting by in the yard at intervals throughout the day as I sit at my computer and work. Their flight is such an awkward dance, and their color such a brilliant white compared to all the other browns and greens and yellows and oranges outside that it always makes me look up to see what is outside and think, oh! yes, another butterfly.