The suburban street is quiet.

A safe city skyline in the distance.

No choking clouds of black smoke.

No artillery fire, no jet fighters roaring overhead.

Around the bend I will not be stopped by a military checkpoint.

I will not see people waiting in line for food, faces with helpless hopeless eyes.

No muttering, no crying, only the sound of bird calls and the breeze ruffling leaves.

No chants for freedom, no skirmish over the ownership of an abandoned vehicle, weapon, passport, shoes.

A woman cradling a sick child – no, she is carrying her small dog.

A cyclist whizzes by, a delivery truck rolls around the bend.

I keep walking, steadily, evenly, calmly. There is nothing to ruffle my early morning walk.

And I am grateful.

Very grateful.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.

Eric Hoffer