Advent 3 - Gratitude

Some of my online friends have been blogging gratitude (my apologies for the lack of links ~ I left my power cord at home, my own computer is dead, and so I am functioning sans favorites) and I've decided to join them for a day of Advent reflecting on my gratitude for the Chautauqua Institution:

~ my husband and I met there, and

~ my children spent maybe 20 summer vacations there (I have a photo of the not-quite-year-old Lovely Daughter "listening" to Gloria Steinem there), and

~ when I was between churches and casting about for spiritual grounding, I found it there, thanks in no small measure to preachers like Joan Chittister and Barbara Brown Taylor and Karen Armstrong, all of whom have become part of my conversation of faith, and to teachers and friends whose names would not be recognized, but who have shared parts of themselves and their journeys in the context of walks along the lake, classes lit by afternoon sunlight, and conversations at the Children's Beach.

So: bleak midwinter gratitude for summer days and nights.