I saw a couple of bald eagles this weekend while vacationing @ “the Lake”.
I was astonished at the size of their wing span & their grace as they soared high above.
What a sight. 😊🦅
I am astonished and proud of my son. He is only 33 yrs old and meets the goals he sets for himself. He witnessed & unfortuatnely knows his Dad’s failures even though the man was very smart and successful at times it was a rollercoaster of failures as well.
Utter and complete,
mind blowing astonishment
is what I feel
whenever I pull into the driveway of my home.
If you know my adult history
this will come as no surprise . . .
I never once,
since I was in my early twenties
believed that the impossible could happen,
and yet it did.
No one has expelled me
or punished me
for having this beautiful-to-my-eyes
little brick house in the country,
surrounded by gardens,
mostly the fruit of my own labor.
We even built a little garden shed
that is a kind of miniature version
of the house itself.
Over the last 14 years
we have restored the inside,
room by room,
with a little help in the kitchen,
and all that is left to do
is the teeny tiny bathroom on the first floor.
I thought I would be buried in my grave by now
or wilting away in prison somewhere . . .
many people I knew ‘back then’
are in one or the other of those places now.
How can I not be astonished (?)
and yes,
grateful beyond measure
as well.
I wake up every morning
in a real bed
with clean sheets
and a cup of coffee brought to me
while,
propped up on pillows
we watch the news together.
This is my safe place
from a world that right now
seems to have gone mad.
I’m still astonished
and more grateful
every day . . .
and I say ‘thank you’ to the Universe’
every night.
I am a bird
who has a nest,
and a fine nest it is. ♥
I thought of you when we took our dogs to a park for a walk. We walked the neighborhood around the park, and there’s this one house that has the entire front yard and sidewalk edges filled with a gorgeous array of flowers. It’s really beautiful, and you can tell how much love has been put into it 🌺🥀🪻🌼🌿
I’m m so happy for you.
I too, Sparrow, can’t believe my good fortune.
Like you, I never expected any of this.
It still feels like it could disappear at any moment, but so far, so good. 😊
I guess the cuteness of my cats. I find their extreme cuteness to be pretty amazing, especially the cuteness of my big orange boy, who I call the baby, little Bert. What also amazes me is that my husband somehow doesn’t see Bert as being amazingly cute. Just last night I asked him to rate Bert’s cuteness on a scale of one to ten, and do you know that man gave Bert a five. Incredible. I will send a picture of little Berton’ (yes, he’s French) in to the Gratitude Lounge one day soon and you can judge for yourself. 😸
After rereading the question, I can see I’ve gone for amazing cuteness, but that’s not astonishing. The word astonishing probably doesn’t even go with the word cute. So to step my answer up from amazing cuteness, (sorry Berton’) I would have to go with the astonishing beauty of a newborn baby. There is nothing in this world as astonishingly beautiful as a newborn. So tiny, so innocent, just incredible.
I never thought orange cats were that cute until I had one. My husband and I have had Bert, and his sibling, Coco, since they were about 12 days old. So we are very attached to them. Coco is Siamese, blue eyed, very fiesty, and loves my husband. She puts up with me. Bert is a big boy with very sweet large eyes, but he is a bit of a nut. He’s usually a sleepy cat, except when he is tearing around the house, chasing imaginary who knows what, and meowing loudly at the tops of the walls.
Heaven knows, Drea, we love these crazy little animals.
So you found astonishing cuteness in a baby horned toad. 🧐 I don’t know that I’ve ever seen an adult horned toad, much less a newborn one. I’m sure (I think?) the newborns are (kind of) cute. I’m going to look them up now. You’ve got me very curious, Joseph. 😅♥️
Well today I paid for my yoghurt at the grocery store with my card and the man gave me $100 back!
When I looked astonished, he said I had hit the $$ back button… a surprise to me! I must have fat-fingered something, but I just laughed all the way to re-depositing it😂
I definitely was astonished initially…it then morphed into an opportunity to laugh!
I too, thought about it this morning, before going out on a ride, and couldn’t really think
of anything either. It’s now evening. I’ve looked up the definition of the word. That didn’t really help. So here we are.
It’s still a pleasure for me to see the other responses though.
My son had his 10th birthday this week. I am astonished at what a smart, funny, amazing young man he has become thus far, despite the fact that he was dealt a tricky hand in this life. I am so grateful for him everyday.
I don’t know that I can claim astonishment as a recent feeling. I can claim surprise and delight, though. Yesterday I rode my bike to a place about a mile and a half from our house where an old apple tree drops its fruit on the ground of a now-empty plot of land. It must have been planted many, many years ago. I’ve gone there for three or four years now to glean fruit that I turn into various tasty treats.
On my way there I spotted a splash of beautiful color in a yard and a sign that read Fresh Flowers. After picking up the apples (probably 25 pounds or so–filled my bike panniers) I stopped to look. Gorgeous dahlias mixed with other flowers, $12 for a bouquet *and* the vase it sat in, plus a lower shelf with free produce they were giving away. What a treat! I bought some flowers, put six ripe plums in the front basket where they wouldn’t get smooshed by the apples, and went on my way. After unloading at home I noodled around for a while scouting for other trees dropping fruit that was going to waste and found a few more, along with checking out every Little Free Library I passed. (We have a lot in our area.)
Oh wait, maybe astonishment, or really more like startlement and surprise. Last night as I read in bed I heard a lot of noise, like something breaking bushes or wood. What on earth was it?! I didn’t think a human intruder would be that noisy so after a few seconds I had my suspicions.
I turned out my lamp and looked outside. Couldn’t see a thing even after my eyes adjusted. Turned on my phone’s flashlight and shone it out through the screen. Couldn’t see a thing. Put on my robe and sneakers and went outside, where I discovered a mama raccoon who was BREAKING my elderberry bushes’ branches to get at the ripe berries! I had guessed raccoon but the woody noise had been a bit of a mystery since we don’t have a brush pile out there.
She made a very ominous low rumbling sound. I realized why a second later, as an immature raccoon edged past me on the fence about three feet away. She was clearly saying “Don’t you dare hurt my baby!” I won’t, Mama, but get away from my berries! Once the baby made its way to her we had a staredown for a few minutes. She backed slowly away but didn’t really want to go. Even after I turned off my flashlight I could see glowing eyes watching me, the mama’s eyes higher than the eyes of the baby crouched in front of her..
This morning, some very sad elderberry bushes awaited. I’ve trimmed off one truly broken branch. With a couple more I’m going to try taping them up as if I’d grafted the branch and see what happens. I’d been planning to harvest today anyway. Time to make elderberry jam!
Yes,
dear Barb . . .
I’d call your encounter with the raccoons last night
as an astonishing event.
I have a few raccoon stories too,
but will save them for another day . . .
yours was special . . .
seeing mom and her little one. 🙂
Like Deann mentioned, astonished is such a strong word. Upon first thought earlier this morning, I didn’t answer because I couldn’t think of anything that had astonished me lately. But reading your answers has made me really take a look.
I’m not really astonished with how our finding a new home so close to the beach worked out. I know the universe was on our side when we set our intention to move back to the coast. I am, however, happily astonished at how quickly we are selling the larger things we don’t want to haul to another state. We had a 16′ enclosed trailer that we used for our catering business. My husband put it on facebook last weekend and sold it in a day. Our dining room set, which I love but is so so heavy and too big for our new home, got put on the ‘book as well, and it is being picked up tomorrow morning. Even with chairs that need the seats recovered, the couple still wanted it! I thought for sure we were going to have to get Habitat to come and pick it up. Hubby sold the last bit of catering equipment yesterday, and everything is lining up so perfectly for our move. What a blessing!
Walking home from the gym today, I saw a building about 30 blocks up 7th avenue with its head in the few clouds that a remained of a morning rainstorm, with the rest of the sky around it a brilliant blue.
Striking image, Clay. It makes me think about how different the view would have been for the people on those upper floors, lost in the clouds, while the rest of us see blue sky. Something to remember when life seems cloudy.
The word of the day hit me hard.
To be astonished is one of the surest ways of not growing old too quickly.
My astonishment is how the written and verbal communication has hit my soul. We often hear…growing old is not for sissies, or growing old is no fun, or being old s….
This applies to the physical part, but here we have a perfect solution. Just be astonished, curious, open!
I noticed a bird commotion in a nearby tree while camping. The tree was hopping with yellow warblers, with cute, round bodies that looked a lot like the Easter candy Peeps. I’d never seen such a bird, and was delighted to see the excited little flock nearby.
I had a wonderful summer with three trips: to Vietnam, Japan, Los Angeles, and finally returning home to Minnesota. When I settle myself in quiet, I am still surprised that English has become my second language, something I had never thought of, and that Minnesota has become my home. The sharp turn in my life journey tells me that I can make a plan for my life, but God is the one who makes the final decision. More than that, I couldn’t believe that I had a chance to go back to school, which would never have happened if I had stayed in my home country.
Being bilingual is amazing. It truly amazes me that people can switch back and forth. To me, it’s like a party trick or something. I’m sure it required a big effort.
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I saw a couple of bald eagles this weekend while vacationing @ “the Lake”.
I was astonished at the size of their wing span & their grace as they soared high above.
What a sight. 😊🦅
What an incredible experience,
dear PKR . . .
an astonishment to be sure. ♥
Beautiful!
I am astonished and proud of my son. He is only 33 yrs old and meets the goals he sets for himself. He witnessed & unfortuatnely knows his Dad’s failures even though the man was very smart and successful at times it was a rollercoaster of failures as well.
I wonder if the example of his dad inspired him to do things differently. I had that experience with my family.
Utter and complete,
mind blowing astonishment
is what I feel
whenever I pull into the driveway of my home.
If you know my adult history
this will come as no surprise . . .
I never once,
since I was in my early twenties
believed that the impossible could happen,
and yet it did.
No one has expelled me
or punished me
for having this beautiful-to-my-eyes
little brick house in the country,
surrounded by gardens,
mostly the fruit of my own labor.
We even built a little garden shed
that is a kind of miniature version
of the house itself.
Over the last 14 years
we have restored the inside,
room by room,
with a little help in the kitchen,
and all that is left to do
is the teeny tiny bathroom on the first floor.
I thought I would be buried in my grave by now
or wilting away in prison somewhere . . .
many people I knew ‘back then’
are in one or the other of those places now.
How can I not be astonished (?)
and yes,
grateful beyond measure
as well.
I wake up every morning
in a real bed
with clean sheets
and a cup of coffee brought to me
while,
propped up on pillows
we watch the news together.
This is my safe place
from a world that right now
seems to have gone mad.
I’m still astonished
and more grateful
every day . . .
and I say ‘thank you’ to the Universe’
every night.
I am a bird
who has a nest,
and a fine nest it is. ♥
Your nest sounds cozy and beautiful, Sparrow. Wish I could see it!
Cozy,
dear Drea,
if a little messy
from all the gardening paraphernalia about. 🙂
💗
🙏
I thought of you when we took our dogs to a park for a walk. We walked the neighborhood around the park, and there’s this one house that has the entire front yard and sidewalk edges filled with a gorgeous array of flowers. It’s really beautiful, and you can tell how much love has been put into it 🌺🥀🪻🌼🌿
How dear
that you thought of me,
dear SunnyPatti . . .
I had to smile a little . . . 🙂
I’m m so happy for you.
I too, Sparrow, can’t believe my good fortune.
Like you, I never expected any of this.
It still feels like it could disappear at any moment, but so far, so good. 😊
So you are one of those,
like me,
dear Charlie . . . 🙏
I am glad of your good fortune dear Sparrow.
. . . unexpected
and undeserved,
dear Joseph . . . ♥
Well deserved, dear Sparrow, well deserved.
♥️♥️♥️
I wish. ♥
You have been through so much, Sparrow. You deserve everything good that you have now. ♥️
I am astonished that I keep passing the mock tests which I am taking to prepare for my exam on Tuesday.
Wishing you well on Tuesday,
dear Louise. ♥
I guess the cuteness of my cats. I find their extreme cuteness to be pretty amazing, especially the cuteness of my big orange boy, who I call the baby, little Bert. What also amazes me is that my husband somehow doesn’t see Bert as being amazingly cute. Just last night I asked him to rate Bert’s cuteness on a scale of one to ten, and do you know that man gave Bert a five. Incredible. I will send a picture of little Berton’ (yes, he’s French) in to the Gratitude Lounge one day soon and you can judge for yourself. 😸
After rereading the question, I can see I’ve gone for amazing cuteness, but that’s not astonishing. The word astonishing probably doesn’t even go with the word cute. So to step my answer up from amazing cuteness, (sorry Berton’) I would have to go with the astonishing beauty of a newborn baby. There is nothing in this world as astonishingly beautiful as a newborn. So tiny, so innocent, just incredible.
So that’s my answer for today. Peace to all. 🩵🩵🩵😇
There’s something about orange cats … my neighbors have one who likes to rest in the window. He’s big and very cute.
My youngest daughter has an orange cat, Gravy, and he is adorable 🙂 seeing him with her other cat, Mash makes me smile with all their shenanigans.
I never thought orange cats were that cute until I had one. My husband and I have had Bert, and his sibling, Coco, since they were about 12 days old. So we are very attached to them. Coco is Siamese, blue eyed, very fiesty, and loves my husband. She puts up with me. Bert is a big boy with very sweet large eyes, but he is a bit of a nut. He’s usually a sleepy cat, except when he is tearing around the house, chasing imaginary who knows what, and meowing loudly at the tops of the walls.
Heaven knows, Drea, we love these crazy little animals.
All newborn babies are astonishing beauty. Ever see a baby horned toad? Astonishingly cute!
So you found astonishing cuteness in a baby horned toad. 🧐 I don’t know that I’ve ever seen an adult horned toad, much less a newborn one. I’m sure (I think?) the newborns are (kind of) cute. I’m going to look them up now. You’ve got me very curious, Joseph. 😅♥️
😄
You could say,
dear Mary,
that Bert is astonishingly cute. 🙂
Yes, Sparrow, I think I could! ♥️
Well today I paid for my yoghurt at the grocery store with my card and the man gave me $100 back!
When I looked astonished, he said I had hit the $$ back button… a surprise to me! I must have fat-fingered something, but I just laughed all the way to re-depositing it😂
I definitely was astonished initially…it then morphed into an opportunity to laugh!
Yikes! 🙂
How surprising that must have been!
I can’t think of anything right now.
I too, thought about it this morning, before going out on a ride, and couldn’t really think
of anything either. It’s now evening. I’ve looked up the definition of the word. That didn’t really help. So here we are.
It’s still a pleasure for me to see the other responses though.
My son had his 10th birthday this week. I am astonished at what a smart, funny, amazing young man he has become thus far, despite the fact that he was dealt a tricky hand in this life. I am so grateful for him everyday.
♥️♥️♥️
I don’t know that I can claim astonishment as a recent feeling. I can claim surprise and delight, though. Yesterday I rode my bike to a place about a mile and a half from our house where an old apple tree drops its fruit on the ground of a now-empty plot of land. It must have been planted many, many years ago. I’ve gone there for three or four years now to glean fruit that I turn into various tasty treats.
On my way there I spotted a splash of beautiful color in a yard and a sign that read Fresh Flowers. After picking up the apples (probably 25 pounds or so–filled my bike panniers) I stopped to look. Gorgeous dahlias mixed with other flowers, $12 for a bouquet *and* the vase it sat in, plus a lower shelf with free produce they were giving away. What a treat! I bought some flowers, put six ripe plums in the front basket where they wouldn’t get smooshed by the apples, and went on my way. After unloading at home I noodled around for a while scouting for other trees dropping fruit that was going to waste and found a few more, along with checking out every Little Free Library I passed. (We have a lot in our area.)
Oh wait, maybe astonishment, or really more like startlement and surprise. Last night as I read in bed I heard a lot of noise, like something breaking bushes or wood. What on earth was it?! I didn’t think a human intruder would be that noisy so after a few seconds I had my suspicions.
I turned out my lamp and looked outside. Couldn’t see a thing even after my eyes adjusted. Turned on my phone’s flashlight and shone it out through the screen. Couldn’t see a thing. Put on my robe and sneakers and went outside, where I discovered a mama raccoon who was BREAKING my elderberry bushes’ branches to get at the ripe berries! I had guessed raccoon but the woody noise had been a bit of a mystery since we don’t have a brush pile out there.
She made a very ominous low rumbling sound. I realized why a second later, as an immature raccoon edged past me on the fence about three feet away. She was clearly saying “Don’t you dare hurt my baby!” I won’t, Mama, but get away from my berries! Once the baby made its way to her we had a staredown for a few minutes. She backed slowly away but didn’t really want to go. Even after I turned off my flashlight I could see glowing eyes watching me, the mama’s eyes higher than the eyes of the baby crouched in front of her..
This morning, some very sad elderberry bushes awaited. I’ve trimmed off one truly broken branch. With a couple more I’m going to try taping them up as if I’d grafted the branch and see what happens. I’d been planning to harvest today anyway. Time to make elderberry jam!
Yes, don’t mess with a raccoon mama. 😬
Yes,
dear Barb . . .
I’d call your encounter with the raccoons last night
as an astonishing event.
I have a few raccoon stories too,
but will save them for another day . . .
yours was special . . .
seeing mom and her little one. 🙂
Oh what a story, the standoff between you and a determined mama raccoon.
I enjoyed reading it, Barb! 😀
I also scrounge dropped fruit from public areas 😁 I try to beat the critters to it👍
Like Deann mentioned, astonished is such a strong word. Upon first thought earlier this morning, I didn’t answer because I couldn’t think of anything that had astonished me lately. But reading your answers has made me really take a look.
I’m not really astonished with how our finding a new home so close to the beach worked out. I know the universe was on our side when we set our intention to move back to the coast. I am, however, happily astonished at how quickly we are selling the larger things we don’t want to haul to another state. We had a 16′ enclosed trailer that we used for our catering business. My husband put it on facebook last weekend and sold it in a day. Our dining room set, which I love but is so so heavy and too big for our new home, got put on the ‘book as well, and it is being picked up tomorrow morning. Even with chairs that need the seats recovered, the couple still wanted it! I thought for sure we were going to have to get Habitat to come and pick it up. Hubby sold the last bit of catering equipment yesterday, and everything is lining up so perfectly for our move. What a blessing!
The Universe
is supporting you,
dear SunnyPatti . . . ♥
Walking home from the gym today, I saw a building about 30 blocks up 7th avenue with its head in the few clouds that a remained of a morning rainstorm, with the rest of the sky around it a brilliant blue.
Striking image, Clay. It makes me think about how different the view would have been for the people on those upper floors, lost in the clouds, while the rest of us see blue sky. Something to remember when life seems cloudy.
The word of the day hit me hard.
To be astonished is one of the surest ways of not growing old too quickly.
My astonishment is how the written and verbal communication has hit my soul. We often hear…growing old is not for sissies, or growing old is no fun, or being old s….
This applies to the physical part, but here we have a perfect solution. Just be astonished, curious, open!
Yes, Yram, astonished, curious, and open! I so agree!
I feel the same way,
dear Yram. ♥
I noticed a bird commotion in a nearby tree while camping. The tree was hopping with yellow warblers, with cute, round bodies that looked a lot like the Easter candy Peeps. I’d never seen such a bird, and was delighted to see the excited little flock nearby.
Wonderful!
♥
Early morning in my area was crazy rain. I liked watching it come down. It’s a pretty astonishing sight!
Water seeking its level!
I had a wonderful summer with three trips: to Vietnam, Japan, Los Angeles, and finally returning home to Minnesota. When I settle myself in quiet, I am still surprised that English has become my second language, something I had never thought of, and that Minnesota has become my home. The sharp turn in my life journey tells me that I can make a plan for my life, but God is the one who makes the final decision. More than that, I couldn’t believe that I had a chance to go back to school, which would never have happened if I had stayed in my home country.
Being bilingual is amazing. It truly amazes me that people can switch back and forth. To me, it’s like a party trick or something. I’m sure it required a big effort.
My Ngoc, God works in mysterious ways.