{"id":403,"date":"2015-05-21T23:19:25","date_gmt":"2015-05-22T04:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403"},"modified":"2015-06-18T08:47:12","modified_gmt":"2015-06-18T13:47:12","slug":"blessed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403","title":{"rendered":"Blessed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Late Saturday afternoon, after a busy day of cooking and hosting, I sat in a folding chair by the lake at a birthday party for my son. \u00a0My children were there, and \u00a0a dozen of my son&#8217;s friends, a group of very dear young adults. \u00a0We had feasted on fajitas and guacamole. \u00a0We had fished a little with some old rods from the garage and pitched washers. \u00a0We drank water, beer, and apple juice and told stories about the beloved birthday boy. Two busy five-year-olds gathered wild onions and gifted each adult with one. \u00a0They grabbed our hands to show us bugs and berries and wildflowers. Little \u00a0Piney worked it&#8217;s magic on the group. \u00a0Everyone felt mellow and happy, sitting in a circle, and talking about good things. \u00a0I was feeling blessed, richly blessed, by this abundance&#8211;my healthy, strong, and kind children; these warm, and funny friends who love my son; this green, alive place that is Little Piney nurturing and holding us. \u00a0The frogs were croaking, and one Chuck Will&#8217;s Widow began his song. \u00a0Then, just as\u00a0dusk was about to become night,\u00a0the yellow-green lights of fireflies began to spark, just above the grass, just below the trees, just before our eyes, just for this blessed moment.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_405\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-405\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"405\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?attachment_id=405\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2118.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"3872,2592\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D3000&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1431802216&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;55&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.1&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"DSC_2118\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2118-1024x685.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-405 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2118-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_2118\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2118-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2118-1024x685.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-405\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Birthday Crowd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_406\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-406\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"406\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?attachment_id=406\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2126.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2929,2073\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D3000&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1431807814&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;55&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.016666666666667&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"DSC_2126\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2126-1024x725.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-406 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2126-300x212.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_2126\" width=\"300\" height=\"212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2126-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2126-1024x725.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-406\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Birthday Boy and Sisters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Late Saturday afternoon, after a busy day of cooking and hosting, I sat in a folding chair by the lake at a birthday party for my son. \u00a0My children were there, and \u00a0a dozen of my son&#8217;s friends, a group of very dear young adults. \u00a0We had feasted on fajitas and guacamole. \u00a0We had<span class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[5,120,119,118,121,6],"class_list":["post-403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lost-pines-life","tag-bastrop-tx","tag-blessed","tag-blessings","tag-family","tag-friends","tag-lost-pines"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Blessed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I was feeling richly blessed by this abundance--my healthy, strong, and kind children; sweet friends celebrating my son; Little Piney nurturing and holding us.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blessed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was feeling richly blessed by this abundance--my healthy, strong, and kind children; sweet friends celebrating my son; Little Piney nurturing and holding us.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lost Pines Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-22T04:19:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-06-18T13:47:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2118.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3872\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2592\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tammy Brown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tammy Brown\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?p=403#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?p=403\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tammy Brown\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0daa2078266a51d8cd7e6dae307f5642\"},\"headline\":\"Blessed\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-22T04:19:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-18T13:47:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?p=403\"},\"wordCount\":233,\"commentCount\":3,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?p=403#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/DSC_2118.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bastrop TX\",\"blessed\",\"blessings\",\"family\",\"friends\",\"Lost Pines\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Lost Pines Life\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?p=403#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?p=403\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?p=403\",\"name\":\"Blessed\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?p=403#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?p=403#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/DSC_2118.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-22T04:19:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-18T13:47:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0daa2078266a51d8cd7e6dae307f5642\"},\"description\":\"I was feeling richly blessed by this abundance--my healthy, strong, and kind children; sweet friends celebrating my son; Little Piney nurturing and holding us.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?p=403#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?p=403\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?p=403#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/DSC_2118.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/DSC_2118.jpg\",\"width\":3872,\"height\":2592},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?p=403#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blessed\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lost Pines Life\",\"description\":\"At home with nature in the Lost Pines of Bastrop, Texas\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0daa2078266a51d8cd7e6dae307f5642\",\"name\":\"Tammy Brown\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7405d90a373cd19cd97c5133b2d33790b43b0292a16c4b19dae6301b0e2b7690?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7405d90a373cd19cd97c5133b2d33790b43b0292a16c4b19dae6301b0e2b7690?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7405d90a373cd19cd97c5133b2d33790b43b0292a16c4b19dae6301b0e2b7690?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tammy Brown\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lostpineslife.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Blessed","description":"I was feeling richly blessed by this abundance--my healthy, strong, and kind children; sweet friends celebrating my son; Little Piney nurturing and holding us.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Blessed","og_description":"I was feeling richly blessed by this abundance--my healthy, strong, and kind children; sweet friends celebrating my son; Little Piney nurturing and holding us.","og_url":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403","og_site_name":"Lost Pines Life","article_published_time":"2015-05-22T04:19:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-06-18T13:47:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3872,"height":2592,"url":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2118.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tammy Brown","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tammy Brown","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403"},"author":{"name":"Tammy Brown","@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0daa2078266a51d8cd7e6dae307f5642"},"headline":"Blessed","datePublished":"2015-05-22T04:19:25+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-18T13:47:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403"},"wordCount":233,"commentCount":3,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2118.jpg","keywords":["Bastrop TX","blessed","blessings","family","friends","Lost Pines"],"articleSection":["Lost Pines Life"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403","url":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403","name":"Blessed","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2118.jpg","datePublished":"2015-05-22T04:19:25+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-18T13:47:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0daa2078266a51d8cd7e6dae307f5642"},"description":"I was feeling richly blessed by this abundance--my healthy, strong, and kind children; sweet friends celebrating my son; Little Piney nurturing and holding us.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2118.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2118.jpg","width":3872,"height":2592},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=403#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blessed"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/","name":"Lost Pines Life","description":"At home with nature in the Lost Pines of Bastrop, Texas","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0daa2078266a51d8cd7e6dae307f5642","name":"Tammy Brown","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7405d90a373cd19cd97c5133b2d33790b43b0292a16c4b19dae6301b0e2b7690?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7405d90a373cd19cd97c5133b2d33790b43b0292a16c4b19dae6301b0e2b7690?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7405d90a373cd19cd97c5133b2d33790b43b0292a16c4b19dae6301b0e2b7690?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tammy Brown"},"url":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DSC_2118.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s5RvQS-blessed","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}