One of my rituals for each new year is to choose a word to influence me for the year. My word for 2011 is EXPERIMENT. To support my EXPERIMENTAL focus, I commit to post the results of a new experiment each Sunday of this year.
My experiment this week is in honor of my dad, Kendell Leeroy Bearnes.
He was 21 when this image was taken in 1941. At 5’2″ he was too short to join the US Armed Forces. So he joined the Canadian RAF. He met my mom while stationed in England (that story warrants another complete blog post :)). After being a POW during WWII, Dad was apparently tall enough for the US Marines. That’s how he, my mom, my sister and I ultimately ended up at Cherry Point, MCAS. Dad died on April 29, 1983.
Back to my experiment. Whenever Dad was home, one of our rituals was to get up at 5am, eat Grape Nuts and tell each other about the miracle(s) we’d seen the day before. It was yearsssssss before I realized that every father didn’t do that.
Since I was very young when we started this ritual, Dad explained that a ‘miracle’ was something very good that made me say “wOw” and thank God. As you can imagine, with those guidelines, the list of miracles can get very long. In honor of Dad, this week I recorded ONE miracle I witnessed every day. And yep, it was tough to hone in on just one.
Sunday ~ tried out a new Thai recipe on Tom and he LOVED it!
Monday ~ a blissfully quiet day with no agenda
Tuesday ~ spotted the two surprising sunflowers at the end of the canal on the road where I live
Wednesday ~ chocolate covered bacon
Thursday ~ a fabulous slumber party with Viola
Friday ~ the FULL MOON over LKW
Saturday ~ REAL tomatoes and REAL corn
What miracles have you witnessed lately?
Lisa’s Cheap Therapy blog 
Will be witnessing a miracle soon. African goose setting on eggs, due to hatch soon. Can’t hardly wait for the sweet little things to hatch. I say sweet, because they are when they’re little, it’s when they grow up they are hateful. Anyone need watch geese?
Lisa, I love your blogs. They are full of wonderful reminders or new revelations for me. You continue to be such an inspiration. Through you now, your father continues to impart wisdom.
You surely did have a very wonderful father, and I’m so glad he raised you to see the miraculous in everyday life so that you could remind us all of its presence. (A long standing miracle in my life is that I made it through my early childhood with my father, who was quite the opposite of yours!) As far as recent miracles, every time I go into the garden, I am reminded of the miracles nature brings us. How does a tiny black seed turn into a fragrant basil plant with heads of little flowers, each a perfect work of art, upon close inspection? The mother plant, having its flowers pinched off insists upon branching out in fullness to produce even more, and the little flower-filled stalks I’ve pinched off and place in a bit of water send out roots to keep the life force going for another generation of plant life. Hmmmm…I think I’m seeing a connection here….something to do with the paternal “pinching”, offset by unconditional maternal love in my life. Wow. Thank you, Lisa. (:
Today my miracle was enjoying the water in my almost clear pool! It was so wonderful to just “be” in the water and then to move slowly while vacuuming it from inside the pool.
Mary, oooooooooooooo wild geese ~ a miracle INDEED!
Jane, aw shucks ~ wish you’d known my dad. ya’ll would’ve loved each other.
ML, THANKS for the gentle reminder to look for miracles in my yard ~ YES!
Judi, enjoy that miracle pool, woman!
thanks, ya’ll…
Your dad brought you into the world. That’s the only miracle I need.