Okay, it's Tuesday, April 8th, 2025. It's been an interesting week so far, wouldn't you say? A lot of people would say it's been an interesting almost three months. But I'm here to talk about gratitude.
That's what I'm here to talk about. And I'm having a hard time getting inspired. So I went on the internet to get inspired. Welcome to the Daily Grateful.
I'm Michael Croes. I asked ChatGPT to give me 13 talking points about what to be grateful for on April 8th, 2025 in the United States of America. And this is what it's saying. I'm reading this.
Like, this is a cold read. I haven't looked at any of it yet. So we're going to do this together. Shall we?
I'm sure I'll comment. So, as they say, or as they say, some, here are 13 thoughtful talking points for what to be grateful for on April 8th, 2025 in the United States. Okay, number one. I'm reading these right now.
I haven't looked at any of this in advance. I just typed this in. It just printed out. But let's see what the, oh, once in a lifetime solar eclipse today, millions across the US get to witness a total solar eclipse.
Where cosmic event that reminds us how small we are and how awesome and beautiful the universe can be. Remember that song? The universe keeps expanding and expanding. Yeah, that would be, I remember that freedom of expression, number two, freedom of expression.
And a time of intense opinions and debate, we can still gather, speak, write and post freely, can we? That's a powerful freedom to be thankful for. And yes, we still can. I don't know for how much longer, but we still can.
And that's good. That is absolutely good. I'll go along with that. See, I'm being optimistic.
I'm going to go along with it. Number three, I need to have like one of those really cool radio voice number three, three, three, three, anyway, I did no prep. I just typed that in and said, here it is, the power of community, whether you're sharing eclipse glasses attending a local event or spending time with neighbors. Today is a reminder of the strength of human connection.
And yes, that is true. I spent the day with my son, Zach, and we'll probably see three of my grandchildren today. They're moving on Friday. They're moving out of state.
And I'm not happy. But, you know, it's an exciting adventure for them. My daughter bought a house out of state and it's a cool house. I've seen the pictures and I'm so proud of her.
So I'm grateful for that. Okay. Number four, spring is in full swing. Yes, it is.
I'm so excited yesterday, yesterday. I looked at the sky and it was brown because cold front was coming in and I knew it was going to rain. So I fertilized my front yard, which is the St. Augustine grass with a fruit tree based fertilizer.
It's a four, six, eight. The first four is the nitrogen. I went low on that because I don't like adding nitrogen to grass. I like it to be kind of natural.
And then the next one is six, which is a little bit high in phosphorus, but you know, I have shrubs that also got fertilized. So that's going to help them. And then the ages of potassium, which is going to strengthen everything up. And that is very, very good.
Plus there's a full, you know, set of micronutrients in there. So I'm excited about that. Number five, how are we doing here? Access to innovation and knowledge from Eclipse live streams to real time weather alerts, technology brings the cosmos to our fingertips.
And we are lucky. My iPhone sitting over there on the desk. It has all of the knowledge in the universe in it. I can just go there and ask it anything.
And it will automatically beep if there's like an amber alert and it's school or bad weather. It tells me it's pretty cool. No, it's pretty cool. Ah, public parks and open spaces.
Yes. Many of us are experiencing the eclipse from national and local parks. Raditude is due for the preservation of the shared national natural treasures. And yes, I agree with that.
Where I live, we got a lot of really cool parks. I just a lot of them. And it's beautiful here. It is a beautiful part of the world.
Science and discovery, the eclipse sparks curiosity. Thanks to generations of scientists. We understand why this is happening and we can now predict it down to the second, which is pretty cool. Yeah, pretty big number eight.
I'm getting bored yet. Number eight, health and health care progress, advanced and health care, access to vaccines and overall longevity are worth acknowledging, especially on a day when we look to the future. Yes. Got to tell you.
Uh, almost a year ago. Yeah, almost a year ago. I, you know, found out my A1C was at 8.1. Oh, that's terrible.
I only have one kidney and I want to live for a lot longer. I want to live well into my 80s. So I went to my doctor. I'll do anything you tell me to do.
And she put me on a zimpic. And my A1C is at six right now, five, nine, six, somewhere in there in the total. Yeah. And what I found out about this drug is that it's good for your heart and it's good for a bunch of stuff.
They're finding out all kinds of wonderful things about it as we go along. No, let's see. Number nine, resilience after hard times. Yeah.
As a country, we've weathered pandemics, disasters, economic uncertainty, days like today offer perspective and hope. Yes. And I have all of those, you know, it can get a little discouraging, but, you know, I, I, and, you know, I'm not one of those people who get all shook up. If the stock market takes a giant dive.
Now, if it keeps diving, then I get a little nervous in 2007. It just kept diving and the economy went to just total and complete do do. And I don't know if that's going to happen now. People are saying it is.
Other people saying it's not. I am having faith. I think that we learned from the last disaster, even though this one was, you know, man made, I think we've learned. And I have faith in the American people, American ingenuity and spirit.
Oh, wait a minute. I skipped one, the right to vote and participate. Yeah. And there is that American ingenuity and spirit from creating eclipse viewing devices, organizing educational events today is another chance to appreciate our innovative spirit.
I remember when I was a kid, there was a solar eclipse and we all made these little cardboard things where you look through that little holes poked in it. And you could watch the eclipse or because you weren't supposed to look directly in to the eclipse because it was bad for your eyes. I peed and I don't wear glasses, but don't peek. But yeah, that was a lot of fun.
I was like in fifth grade and we made all these projects at school and we did that. So that's cool. Now diversity of the landscapes and cultures, whether you're watching from Texas, Ohio, Maine, the experience of the eclipse is shared across varied landscapes and communities. This is uniquely American.
Yes. Time to pause and reflect. That's the last one. Eclipse makes people stop and look up today in a collective pause a moment.
We can reflect on what matters why we are all here and that boys and girls. Are 13 things to be grateful for. On this day, April 8th, 2025, in the year of Our Lord. I hope you have a terrific day.
I hope you have a terrific tomorrow. Yeah, I do. I fertilize the lawn, the rain like most of the night, and I, oh gosh, you know, I can't wait for that to kick in and give us a nice flush of green. Little things exciting.
I know I'm. Ellen Led Zeppelin are going back out on tour with John Bonham's son on the drums. How the hell does it get any better than that? Someone tell me.
All right. See you guys tomorrow.