Well, fancy that.  Mangochild’s done gone and given me an award. :)  Huzzah!  It’s called an Attitude and Gratitude Award, for blogs that have done a good job with one or the other or both.

Ain’t she purty?  Nothing hits the spot like organic lemonade made with raw agave nectar and backyard lemons.

(Hey, it’s my award.  I get to see what I want.)

This award, however, comes with a few rules, which I shall mostly disregard, thanks to my wild, anarchistic nature.

Or something.

No, really, I like the spirit of these awards, and I am touched to have received one (especially from Mangochild, someone who has been a consistent and positive voice ’round here, and who is definitely responsible for contributing to the overall tone of things).  At the same time, if I were to set up an award, I’d do it a bit differently.  And so now that I have one, I think I will do it just a bit differently.

Blogging over the past few months has been an interesting experience, and a valuable one.  I’ve discovered the immense power of the web as a tool for access to a variety of people, I’ve started to become part of a wonderful and ever-changing community, and I’ve been able to explore a number of topics I care about and share the information I have while also learning from others.

Blogging good.  Me blog more.

I have a number of blogs that I read regularly for information, but only a handful for the attitude/gratitude heart of the person that write them.  To be honest, there are very few of those right now, and two are long-time friends of mine:  Kim at the Spadefoot Toad, and Jesssica at 9 to 5 Poet.  You would be hard-pressed to meet two people as kind, strong, creative, fun, bright, hopeful, witty, and compassionate.  I am immeasurably grateful to have them both in my life.  New to the list, I have to say that Mangochild’s blog, like her comments here, is indefatigably optimistic, and always a lift to read as she takes on new challenges in transforming her life to something more sustainable.  There are others, of course, like Laura at Urban Hennery, Farmgirl Susan at Farmgirl Fare, and Ang at St Fairsted Farms, plus more that I simply haven’t yet had the chance to encounter.  However, the days are short and the reading list is ever-longer, and my visits to some of these sites are few and far between.  Still, I do enjoy stopping in and checking on them from time to time.  I always know there will be something good going on, which is nice in the crazy mess that the net can be.  They each shine their own little light, like candles.

So huzzah to all the beautiful bloggers out there!  I’m giving all of you I mentioned in the paragraph above a big thank you and an award as well.  You can pass on the prize or not; it’s been given to you without stipulations…just with many thanks.  And to all of you lurkers out there with your own blogs…take a few seconds to delurk today.  Introduce yourselves in the comments here.  Let us know what you blog about and why.  We’d love to meet you.

If you don’t have a blog, tell us what blogs you read that you would name as tops in attitude/gratitude and why.

After all, now is always a good time to light another candle.