Since today was beautiful, sunny and almost warm, I decided to take my bicycle out for a spin on the horse trail near my house.  It’s as close to the “country” as you can get in my suburban town outside Los Angeles.  When my kids were little, we often walked down the trail to feed the horses carrots and to say hello to the chickens and goats.  At one point, we could even visit two ostriches!  Our dog Rosie ran around and ahead of us, sniffing all the while, since there were so many new smells here.  She loved it as much as we did. 

As I was reminiscing about those bygone days, I spotted a tree on the side of the trail covered with hundreds of white slips  of paper fluttering in the breeze.  I walked over to take a look.  A gallon jug was secured to the base of the tree containing blank slips of paper and a pen.  In four inch letters on the side of the jug it said, “The Thankfulness Tree:  Take a piece of paper.  Write what you’re thankful for and attach it to the tree.”  As I peered more closely, I read many of the messages.  Some were romantic:  “I’m thankful for Phoebe.” “I’m thankful for my husband.”  Some were heartwarming:  “I’m thankful for my friends and family.”  “I’m thankful for my new family.”  Some were beautiful in their simplicity:    “I’m thankful for being able to walk down this trail on this beautiful morning.”  However, the most sweeping and memorable was this one:  “I’m thankful for…..life.”