Walking my three dogs near the foothills, I heard the “tap, tap, tap” of a woodpecker at work on the dead section of a tall tree. I thought about how 2020 has been a year of loss for many of us in big and small ways, a proverbial dead tree and one that we will gladly get rid of in another month or so.

Nevertheless, the persistent tapping of the woodpecker made me consider how for him (and I’m just assuming it was a him), that dead tree still had nourishment in it, maybe some insects or tree sap, and I wondered what good I could find in the dead year of 2020. As the woodpecker continued to tap, I remembered the blessings of working from home, walking my dogs, my morning tea. These ordinary joys sustained me when it seemed that chaos was all around. As we move through a very different Thanksgiving and holiday season, what ordinary joy and sustenance will you find to keep you going? Even dead trees have something to offer.