Sometimes very old is much better than anything new - Life's blessings that endure

My mind wandered today remembering how good it feels to snuggle into my favorite chair, book in hand and cocoa on the side table. I was reminded of bitter cold winter days and fingers so cold from shoveling snow that you thought they would drop off if they didn't get warmed soon. Little things that we take for granted that mean so much when we want them and want them NOW!

1. The printing press. I love to read. I love to read just about anything: books, magazines, recipes, newspapers, the Bible. Just imagine what your life would be like without the printing press and the freedom to read whatever you please whenever you please. 
2. Library books. Books about cooking and gardening and crafting and decorating and novels and biographies and history and - and - my list is enormous. I'll sit outside in the summer listening to the birds sing and the neighborhood children at play and read. I read whatever suits me. I sit near the fireplace in the winter, book in hand, and feel the comfort of its bound pages and tight spine - the new smell if it's something I haven't read before. Books bring such a perfect serenity to an ordinary day.
3. A really comfortable chair. You know, the kind that fits you like a glove and may look like death warmed over but you just can't bare to part with it because you ♥ it. The kind of chair that cuddles you the moment you settle into it and keeps you there long after you should have left it behind to do other things.
4. An old afghan. New ones just don't have the same snuggly feeling as the ones with thread bare edges and seams and faded fabric. Maybe your favorite is made of yarn - the one your mom or auntie made for you when you went off to college. The one that should have been used for the dog's bed years ago but you just can't convince yourself that there isn't one more season left in it to warm your tootsies by after shoveling snow.
5. Hot cocoa with tiny marshmallows. Rich, thick hot cocoa made with whole milk - not that thin, modern and dietary correct stuff that you should drink. Nope, the stuff that you had as a child. The stuff that tastes like a melted candy bar and satisfies you all the way down to your little toes. The stuff that is served so hot that you can barely hold the cup; wishing that it would hurry up and cool because if it doesn't you are going to burn your tongue right out of your mouth.

I'm taking part in an exercise during the month of November to list the blessings that encourage us to give thanks. Take a peek on my sidebar. There are a couple of buttons that will take you to the blogs that are sponsoring this event. Believe me - when you do this, it really puts life into a more clear perspective.