http://gratefulbecause.com An Unimaginable Life Tue, 03 Jul 2007 23:42:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Late this afternoon we went to the pool. It was Family Time when kids and teens can only come when accompanied by a grown-up. The three of us had the pool almost to ourselves. The pool and the toys floating in it. Among them were pieces of those water spaghetti's. ... http://gratefulbecause.com/sweet-joys-in-life/floating-in-the-water.html My youngest one has a friend over for a couple of days. As they venture outside , play, explore, run, explode into pleasure, I was struck by how special the sound of children voices can be. Clattering, sparkling, joyful, full of energy, full of life. Be honest with you, sometimes ... http://gratefulbecause.com/sweet-joys-in-life/the-voices-of-children-playing.html The written word is amazing. What started out as oral tradition became written. And the magic is that it worked. The written word invoked the same emotions, the same imagery, the same touch, the same reality. Copied by hand the written word maybe did not touch more people at first but ... http://gratefulbecause.com/sweet-joys-in-life/books-are-special-friends.html I grew up a night person. As a kid I would be awake still by the time my parents went to bed. As a teen I would see the hours tick away at night as the early morning and my summer job approached. Family changed that first. With kids there ... http://gratefulbecause.com/sweet-joys-in-life/morning-showers-feel-so-good.html It wasn't late at all that I went to bed last night. 9:30-ish. But when I came in our sleeping room and looked outside, I was stunned. How beautiful the sky can be. How amazing the colors. What an exquisite soft range of colors. What a brilliant idea to have ... http://gratefulbecause.com/nature/the-beauty-of-the-late-evening-sky.html I was up at 6:00 this morning. It hadn't been my intention even though I had planned to wake up a bit earlier, but alas. After a few minutes I had showered and a pot of fresh coffee awaited me. The vice of a cigarette brought me outside on the ... http://gratefulbecause.com/nature/the-birds-are-back.html My life would certainly not be what it is now if not for my wife. I know because I have been there: a time without my wife, a time before my wife. If the time before my wife was like a stretch of empty wasteland, desolate of fresh green growth, ... http://gratefulbecause.com/family/my-wife-walks-with-me.html When I get up and I see the bright light of sun, it makes my day. It doesn't need to be warm weather. Heck, it can be the middle of winter, but as long as I see that blue sky and some sunshine beaming into the kitchen, my day couldn't ... http://gratefulbecause.com/nature/morning-sun-makes-my-day.html It was raining this morning and man... does it smell nice. It smells... fresh and special and... and it's uncatchable. Sure, many products claim to smell like "fresh rain" but how many actually do? None, in my book. Apparently it's not even the rain itself that smells. If everything is ... http://gratefulbecause.com/nature/rain-smells-so-nice.html I'm truly blessed with my mother. She's in a category by herself. She's not a woman, not a human; she's a mother. Well no, not just any mother, she's my mother. When it comes to love and dedication for your children, my mother is my example. Living on the other ... http://gratefulbecause.com/family/my-mother-is-alive.html