Little Happies -- A Happy Saturday

My Little Happies, all from one day!

--one--

Let's start with dancing.  Or, to be more specific, clogging!  I took up clogging many moons ago (1998, I do believe; I know, ancient history for some of you) and loved it then.  But after moving to Missouri a few years later, I had to give it up because there were no groups nearby to clog with and then life just went on without it.  Until this past Saturday.   I was able to reunite with my fellow cloggers and we performed at our county's fall festival and it felt great!  My joints definitely don't bounce like they used to and I did have a date with ibuprofen and a hot bath afterwards, but nevertheless, it felt so good to be dancing again.  It's great exercise and the crowd really enjoyed it.  Several folks came up to us afterwards asking if they could start taking lessons.  The high point was watching the little kids on the sidelines dancing with us.  We encouraged them to come into the street and dance with us, which they did. Those children had some of the biggest smiles I've seen.   Kids love to dance!  Why do so many of us lose that as adults?   So crank up some music and get movin'.   If there is a clogging group near you, check it out.  It's for all ages and so much fun!

--two--

Saturday was also the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, one of my very first favorite saints.   As a child, I loved St. Francis because of the legends surrounding his love for animals and nature.  I've always felt close to God's little creatures and I admire St. Francis for being the same way.   He is the patron saint of ecologists so I can't help but have a soft spot in my heart for him.  I called upon St. Francis of Assisi many times during my career to assist me with various challenges and he never let me down.  He also is the namesake of our first child, Francis Gabriel, which also makes him the patron of this little blog of mine.    In honor of St. Francis, we ordered pizza on Saturday for supper and ate it on the back porch, where we could see the sun set and watch for migrating monarchs.   "Keep it simple", I think St. Francis would tell us.   I have so much more to learn from this wonderful saint.  Happy Feast Day, St. Francis!

--three--

We ended our Saturday by building the first fire of the season in our woodstove. I grew up with wood heat as a primary heat source and there's just nothing quite like it on a cold winter day or a chilly fall evening like the one we had this past Saturday.    Nothing warms like wood and as my father always said "wood warms you twice".   Meaning, of course, it warms you when you cut it and stack it and haul it, and again when you burn it.    I'm sure that by the time March comes around, Tom and I will be more than ready to stop hauling in firewood and tending a fire in the stove, but for now, it doesn't get much better than a cozy house with a wood fire on a chilly damp autumn evening.   It's the little things, you know.


Now, go check out Stephanie's blog for more Little Happies because life's too short to stay grumpy!