341 - gratitude and a crumbled wall

341 - gratitude and a crumbled wall, a photo by .reid. on Flickr.

Shutter Sisters, a group of fantastic and inspirational photographers whose blog I follow, has a project they call the One Word Project, where they focus on images relating to one word each month. For November, the word is thankful.

As I walked into the house from my car this evening, I remembered how almost two months ago, our yard was covered with flood water. Thinking about it struck a chord in me--feelings that were neither good nor bad, really--just remembering the powerful impact of that day.

Today I am thankful for a crumbled wall in our basement. I am thankful because we were lucky enough to have water only in our basement. I am thankful that even though our wall is not yet fixed, we DO have a new boiler to make heat for our house in the winter.

I am thankful for friends who bought us a canoe as a wedding present. I am thankful for a husband who is clever and capable. I am thankful for friends who fed us and let us spend the night.

However, I am also thankful for what I learned from the flood. I learned that I need to keep a reasonable perspective on my "stuff." I learned that I can't assume it's not going to happen, but I can't panic about it either. I learned that I need to live in a way that I will not be devastated if it happens again.