Unearned But Always Appreciated

I live on the west coast of Canada in a small town.  I live on a short, dead-end road with family and friends around me, a blackberry patch across the street and view of the gulf islands.  This summer we travelled with my neighbour's family to a golf resort at the base of Mount Hood in Oregon where we had a lot of laughs, golf, shopping and playing.  Both of my children got to meet up and spend time with friends in Portland and Seattle.  We then travelled to Barkerville in central BC where we camped with my wife's family, all 18 of us, and had a great family reunion with again, lots of laughs, memories and quality time with each other.  We even saw a moose cow with her calf on our way home.
In the midst of all this summer travelling, I've gone fishing (11 spring salmon and 12 coho this year), golfing (still lousy but enjoy the game), picking blackberries to fill the freezer and generally enjoying living in a place where the land can nourish both your body and your soul.  I have been lucky enough to travel fairly extensively to some beautiful places in the world.  Hawaii, Jamaica, Melbourne, Geneva, Florida, California.

I have enjoyed every one of these locales but I can't say that any one of them is more beautiful than where I live.  In no way have I earned any of this and every day I appreciate the fact that it is only through a combination of luck and the decisions of others that have resulted in me ending up in this part of the world.  My great thanks to all those, both family. friends, and others who have worked together to make this happen.  Keep up the good work.