March, 21,2020.
I’m grateful. For these orange butterflies that hang out here on my patio. Grateful for the person who planted the vines that attract them. Here’s a pic of the flower on the vine. 
Apparently they’ve all become camera shy at the very moment I want to share them with you. Approximately 90% of these butterflies are orange. I wonder why. I’m grateful for the mockingbirds and all the other birds that I cannot identify.
I’m grateful that some kind person posted a free Bikram yoga video to YouTube. Her name is Maggie Grove, the studio is Heart Alchemy Yoga. I invited my sisters Sue Anne and Regina to a 5 Day Bikram Challenge. They accepted. Game on.
I’m grateful that folks here in Florida finally appear to understand the seriousness of the virus crisis. Our local news is no longer chock full of Spring Breakers crowding the beaches. And folks crammed into bars.
One morning last winter, I was walking Siesta beach and saw a 5 dollar bill blowing in the wind at the shore’s edge. As I approached it to try and step on it, it floated along the sand, up the beach, just out of my reach. I intently followed the bill for a few minutes. It was quite windy, and that fiver was just a bit too quick for me. Finally the wind abated and the bill was laying there on the sand. When I reached down to grab it, I noticed it was attached to an almost invisible piece of fishing line. I looked up and discovered these three siblings smiling at me. My initial reaction was irritation, then I began laughing and they began laughing. “You really got me!” I said. I asked them where they got the idea. They said they were bored (really? at the beach?) and their Grampa tied the line and showed them the trick. I’m grateful for teenagers pulling pranks on unsuspecting old folks. Here they are: the girl is holding the bill, her brother the fishing pole.
No one knows what tomorrow will bring. No one knows where we’ll be 6 months from now. All we have is this present moment. This day. I choose light over darkness. Kindness over annoyance. Be well. Stay home. Be kind.
