Every day for the next week, my homework is to come up with a list of ten beautiful things. The benefits of this exercise are manifold and you can figure them out, but personally, I think it'll mainly take my mind off the government conspiracy to repress the poor and Mayor Murrays new hair brained scheme to fritter away excessive tax dollars.

Can I come up with ten beautiful things tonight, though there's snow outside? Can I see the beauty in the world though my eyes hurt and I face 5 months of perpetual coldness? Ten things every day for a week, that's 70 beautiful things in my life, and I suspect that sitting, staring into space, trying to figure out what to put on my nightly list, might take away from my time here, at my computer, writing on my beloved website.

Well now, let's see if I can just make my list right now, and use the time I save to get into bed early. Here goes.....

A cold can of pepsi after a rough day
New boots in winter
Fresh, untouched snow in the forest
Chifunda
An answering machine message from the person you wanted to hear from
Chai tea on a cold morning
Having enough
Pants that fit just right
Chitenge fabric
Lucy Liu

Whew, that was tough, but the day's been so long I can hardly remember what happened, so how can I be expected to think of beautiful things about it? I just want to go to bed.

You should think about trying this exercise, it certainly is helpful in the quest to achieve the ever elusive "sense of gratitude" which I know you're working on. wink wink

I have to go now. Because I'm tired.