I spent time today trying to determine if Eleanor Roosevelt actually counseled us to “do one thing which scares you every day”.  I learned that the adage has a checkered past, attributed to various people over two-hundred years.  Not everyone accepts its virtue.  I turned instead to something which I so often suggested to my son during his childhood that he took to waggling his finger and pushing me to follow my own advice.  “Get the hardest thing done first, then do what you like to do.”  

I followed both recommendations today.  After pushing myself to engage in a dreaded effort (the details of which do not bear discussion), I rewarded myself with a drive along the river road, camera at my side.  I saw a small clutch of Sandhill cranes flying northward over the Sacramento River.  I swerved to the shoulder too late to photograph their majestic sweep, but in the attempt, caught sight of a delicate rainbow, here depicted unretouched.  Along the way, I enjoyed several other stunning vistas.

I’ve spent the evening lost in thought, principally unbridled and unexpected gratitude for the broken road which brought me to live alongside such astounding beauty.

It’s the second day of the sixty-second month of My Year Without Complaining.  Life continues.