(1) I am thankful that my daughter is in my life today. It makes me feel good to know that, whatever might have gone wrong, I’m not the type of dad that I keep hearing some of these Kids tell me about. I’ve made mistakes — but at least I care. Some of those so-called fathers did not even care — and worse.
(2) Thankful for this desk. For my Lenovo IdeaPad, which safely returned from a warranty fix-up. Thankful for Audacity free audio editing software, because I got into the multi-tracking and the mixing last night or the first time, and it was all I could do to stop mixing Zazen’s song, I was so thrilled. This opens up a whole new world of creative possibilities. I can actually even place musical underscores at key moments in my oral presentations. It’s amazing what technology can do, if properly utilized.
(3) Grateful for the revelation that when I lost my cool recently, I was basically mad at all the other people on the team because I wasn’t doing my job. True, they weren’t doing their jobs either, but it’s my job to make sure they do their jobs, and they’re definitely not going to be about doing it without pay and without pressure of definite deadline if I don’t kinda gently get on them about it, now and again. So, I’m glad I saw the light. I got my work cut out for me now.
(4) Just ran six miles — my longest run since I’ve been in North Idaho, I’m ashamed to say — and it feels great. Looking forward to getting a lot of work done tonight.
(5) Looking forward to meeting my new student on Zoom for the third time tomorrow, and to having coffee thereafter with my buddy Tom, the fellow who helps with the four-hand job of putting the smartphone on the tripod. But other than that once-or-twice-daily step-out, I mostly continue to be grateful to be sheltering in place. It’s teaching me to be grateful for the place I have for shelter. For a long time, there was no such place. Things really could be — and have been — a lot worse than they are today.
“I believe I am better than the people who are trying to reform me.”
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Please donate to Eden in Babylon.
A little bit goes a long, long way.
Eden in Babylon 
The Wellest of Well Wishes to you dear sir, dear composer, dear playwright, dear activist, dear journalist, dear pianist, dear intellectual, dear musician, dear writer, my dear father. Andrew Michael Pope and with love, Angela Mary Pope
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well! That certainly says it all. I’m not sure how active the activist is, but I’ll accept all other classifications. Love You Echo.
LikeLike