Category: Blessings

All ToiBox articles about blessings, from sunshine to family… As of October 2015, these individual posts are no more and have been combined under the About Me label.

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Blessings

Count Your Blessings 23: Tea

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Tea

I’m not much into vices, but I do like tea. I’m sensitive to caffeine so I must be cautious about what type I’m drinking and how often. There are many benefits to drinking tea, but when you enjoy the flavor, none of that really matters.

I sometimes go beyond enjoying the flavor. I enjoy the process and the presentation of having a cup of tea: selecting the type, deciding on additives, choosing a cup, choosing how to brew it, letting it steep, deciding what type if any sweetener, and more. Even when I’m in the rear mood for iced tea, I make it meticulously. I even have a monthly meme I write on this blog where I sit down with a topic and sip tea as I write about it. Then when I post what I’ve written, I share a Pinterest image related to tea.

I’m blessed to live in a world with so many varieties of tea, and while it doesn’t have the seemingly magical powers that music has, tea does tend to connect tea drinkers (same goes for coffee drinkers) across racial, cultural, religious, and even national borders…I like tea.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Blessings

Count Your Blessings 22: Trees

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Trees

I don’t think it’s necessary to mention why trees are so important, but I will just a bit. Trees help hold all the land in place, they give us clean air to breath, they offer us shade, can be as a source of food, can be used for fuel and building material, and more. Trees are an essential part of life on earth, but aside from all that, trees are beautiful. Even with my allergies I’ll take the natural shade of healthy, strong tree any day.

I’m blessed to live in a world where all the trees aren’t gone, yet. I hope I never live in world where- let me see; how does the song go? “They put all the trees in a tree museum, then they charged a dollar and a half to see them.” ~Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell

Some terms, when you hear them said so often, start to have negative meaning and “tree hugging hippy” is no different, but I understand it. Some people do go to unhealthy extremes, but I don’t see a problem with people wanting to preserve trees. Needless to say, I look forward to Arbor Day each year.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Blessings

Count Your Blessings 21: Cameras

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Cameras

Art is sacred and painting is beautiful, but there’s something about a photograph. The idea of being able to capture a moment in full color without having to wait for someone to sketch it out and then add color to it astounds me. This invention has done so much for the world, some not so good, but I don’t blame the cameras for that, I blame their users/operators.

Just as words are able to capture and describe a moment, a story, or a feeling, cameras offer us the same but with the satisfaction of instant gratification. Instead of waiting for an image to become clear in our minds after hearing a description, we get to see the image for ourselves, right then and there. Even the camera itself has gone through an evolutionary process to become what it is today and I am grateful for it. I’m blessed to live in a world where I can take a picture of anything and have visual memories at my disposal.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords