jengrabesculpture

In the quiet hours of early dawn I walked up the gravel road to the ridge to watch the sunrise fall across the Franklin Mts. It makes a lovely orange purple pink glow against the backdrop of deep rust colored rock. As I walked along I thought of younger days…days when my son was newborn and I was 20.  What would make me think of those mornings so long ago? Cold mornings when I worked harvesting grapefruits and oranges in Clermont, Fl . A hard living just to barely support our little family. The mornings were cold like this one. If I was lucky, I could afford a cup of coffee and then I could eat oranges and grapefruits till we received our daily pay and could purchase food for dinner. I didn’t even know how to cook or make coffee.  In the more southern area around Homestead,where the vegetables were being harvested,  all winter we could eat for free.  We moved wherever there was work. Like a group of ants we lived the life of foragers, out of our van or living in tenements that we would pay for daily.  A Nomadic lifestyle moving from campground to campground, sleeping in a bedroll on the ground or in the van to avoid mosquitos or fire ants.   In those days you could drive up and sleep on the beach.  Nomadic life can wear you down, but it can also make you grateful for what you have. I grew up in the suburbs of DC, and only moved once in the same town I was born in until my 18th birthday. Then I was on my way to Alaska to get as far away from home as possible.  Perhaps its the sense of adventure that lured me away from wanting a home and nesting. But one grows tired of carrying their bag from pillar to post. People that have a home know something that I do not, some great secret , or gem of truth that eludes me.  I only wanted to care for my loved ones. It is because of my benefactor that I have a warm , dry, comfy place to sleep.  It is not mine, I am a steward to care for it.  So today, this New Years Day, I am grateful for things big and small. I am grateful for beauty in the quiet early dawn, restful sleep, and for a healthy body to walk and work.