We have had a busy spring, and the busyness has not let up with summer now upon us. But I've had a few 'moments of zen,' and the most restorative have been times I've spent enjoying Nature.
Our spring was so wet and cool, after a dry warm winter. The woods (and yards) loved it! We don't often see fungi here in our desert climate, but they are easy to spot, and lovely this year!
The hummingbirds seem to come earlier every year, and we enjoy watching and feeding our few 'residents' here at home, and the many that flock to the cabin. We've not gotten to the cabin much, but got up there for a short time the other day. There was the usual 'charm of hummingbirds,' and we also saw a 'cauldron of vultures,' a 'tidings of magpies' and a 'murder of crows' (which were actually trying to murder one another over fish innards that some idiot had cleaned from his catch and left on the boat dock.)
The two bird houses my husband built and took up last year are very popular! Both are inhabited now, and there seem to be several pairs hanging about on a 'vacancy waiting list.' A beautiful and musical pair of yellow warblers have nested nearby.
Due to the moist spring and early summer, the wildflowers are blooming in profusion this season. The columbines are lovely among the aspen trees, though most are white (old) ones. The younger purple ones are rarely seen in the wild, as the blooms fade with age. They are still beautiful, and protected in Colorado.
My favorite wildflower is still the DeerTongue. This one is about 6 feet tall, but there are some nearby that are 8-10 feet tall! They are just beginning to bloom.
And, when I can't get out to Nature, or when it's too hot now to go out, my cool quiet sitting room is still a place of peace for me. It's where I write in my journal, practice my guitar, or just sit and sip a cool drink while I listen to the clock tick for a few minutes.
I hope 'the living' is easy' for you this summertime! I do remember, and sometimes long for, the days of summer in my childhood, when we would go to the library and I'd bring home a stack of new-to-me books as big as I could carry, then I'd find a cool hiding place and devour them all, before returning them to exchange for a new stack the next week. That is still how I think of summer: a time to hide away and read to my heart's content. I am not getting nearly enough reading done this summer, and somehow, the books I find are not as satisfying as the ones I read as a child. If you've read a book lately that you just can't put down, and long for a sequel to, let me know, OK? There's a corner in my sitting room that is waiting for me and that very book!
