Give Thanks...For The Past Three Years

 A memory surfaced in my social media thread today...three years ago our streets, yards, homes, everything was covered in snow.

It was beautiful.

Even though many hate driving in snow at night, I thought it a cool picture. The fog increased the streetlights which illuminated the white that blanketed us all. I went so far as to research the picture on my computer from three years ago and found out exactly when I took the picture.

9:17pm, December 17th, 2020.

Tonight, at 9:16pm, December 17th, 2023 I went outside, stood in the middle of the road, moved (because a car from one of the dozen or so homes above us decided at that very moment to drive down the street...), returned to the center of the street and snapped a picture.

Obvious differences.

There's barely any light in tonight's photo. There is some fog--or smog--lower in the valley, but the camera didn't pick it up. The picture doesn't work at all, except it was taken exactly three years to the day--to the minute--as the one before it.

For our family, winter in the lands close to Idaho have proven something out of the ordinary. I've always loved winter, and I still do, but last year scarred us. As strange as that sound, it's true. I am thankful for the past three years, the adventures we've had, the memories. Had I known what was coming when I stood outside on a cold snowy December night three years ago, I might have made other choices. There's the rub, though. We can never know that.

I wonder what I'll be doing three years in the future, December 17th, 2026. God willing, I'll be here to chronicle the day, or at least, a small part of it. Will we be on this street? Perhaps. Will I remember to go out on the street at 9:17pm on 12/17/26 and take a picture? There's a lesser chance of that. But, if I do, I hope that when I look back on December 17th, 2023 the decisions I made since then were good ones.

After all, that's all that really matters.