Grateful for Everything

When It Rains, It Pours

What I’m NOT grateful for is mosquitoes

“What are you grateful for today?” Well, technically, yesterday and today… rain.

But let’s start with the things I’m grateful for every day.

Breathing. Oxygen-rich air that is, arguably, less polluted than the air I breathed in the 1970s, although there is definitely work to be done yet, in reducing pollution and improving air quality for all.

Waking up. Don’t get me wrong: I love sleep. I love my vivid, cinematic, technicolor dreams — doesn’t matter if they’re “good” or “bad,” they’re always entertaining. But I’m very glad to wake up each morning and pour that first cup of…

Coffee.

Family. My husband’s the one who made that first pot of coffee. Just sayin’… To love and be loved, that is everything.

My brain. My mom used to wonder if ignorance really were “bliss.” She wondered if ignorant people who didn’t know that they were ignorant were happier than those of us who were all too aware of all the things we know and don’t know. I used to assume that no one was so un-self-aware that they didn’t know they were ignorant. I thought that it would be frustrating and embarrassing to feel “stupid” all the time. But the past decade has proven me wrong. There are many people who happily, proudly wallow in willful ignorance. Still, they seem awfully angry about a lot of things, so I’m just as glad my brain still works.

Education. I’m grateful to have received a good one — from my family, my teachers, books, and life experience. I do believe that the day we run out of curiosity and interest in learning new things, we might as well lay down and die, because the spark of life has gone out in us.

Eyesight. It’s stable, for the moment. Correctible to 20/20 with glasses, still. It’s not something I take for granted. With map-dot-fingerprint dystrophy, recurrent corneal erosions, and a familial risk of macular degeneration, it’s a precious gift — every day — and I want to soak in all the sights.

Hearing. I had it tested, a few years ago. It’s nearly perfect. I’ve lost some degree of it in the lower registers, which is funny — that’s where men’s voices are. That sort of hearing loss is usually related to childhood fevers, and I was the queen of ear infections until after I married. Age related hearing loss, which my husband firmly denies having, tends to be in the upper registers — where women’s voices are. No wonder we are so happily married; we can’t hear each other!

Smell and taste. They’re related, so it’s hard to appreciate one without the other. I cannot imagine a world in which coffee had no aroma and chocolate had no flavor. It would definitely make weight loss easier, but would the cost be worth it? I don’t think so.

Touch. I had to think about this one. When you hit middle-age, it’ll give you pause, too. But only for a moment. I wouldn’t trade away the comfort of a warm embrace, or an electrifying kiss, or a lingering finger stroking my skin just to rid myself of the aches and pains settling into the seedy joints of age like surly pool hustlers and mean drunks. Just pass the Voltaren gel.

Enough. Enough money for a home, food on the table, clothing to keep me from having to relocate to Spain and camp on a nude beach — enough to travel to Spain, if I want to. Or to visit with family in distant places.

And rain.

Good God, we needed that. I’m not sure we’re out of drought territory yet. Imagine living in the land of flood or drought. Hurricane Harvey had Houston almost completely underwater just a few years ago. We either freeze or fry. And this year, it was drought and wildfires. Climate change is real, and I don’t know how much harder our Texas politicians have to be smacked in the face by the evidence of it before they get religion and believe, but most of us know. It’s a real thing.

So this week, I am very grateful for rain. Even if my ankles itch like the furies.

Holly Jahangiri is the author of Trockle ; A Puppy, Not a Guppy; and A New Leaf for Lyle. She draws inspiration from her family, from her own childhood adventures (some of which only happened in her overactive imagination), and from readers both young and young at heart. Visit her website at jahangiri.us and subscribe to her newsletter at https://hollyjahangiri.substack.com/