My dog Harper and I have ducked outside for a quick walk, in the moments between rain. We are slogging through mud and soggy ground. It is dark and grey and the sky is thinking of raining again.
There has been so much kvetching about the weather in the last few weeks. It is April, and a transition time, and people are weary. They are wanting for sun, and are having difficulty seeing anything beyond the howling winds and the grey. It seems to have gotten to even the most optimistic of us.
Yes, it is true; we’ve had snow, sleet, hail, and more in the last few weeks. And a lot of wind. There is so much water that it seems like the land doesn’t know what to do with it.
I have to keep consciously pulling myself back into the realization that there are also signs of beauty and joy and aliveness everywhere.
Trees are filled with flocks of singing birds, passing through on migration.
The honeysuckle are leafing out.
There are geese feeding in the fields, and ducks in the pond. The frogsong is going almost 24/7.
A small songbird, newly arrived from its winter migration grounds, is walking down a tree trunk, looking for bugs to eat.
Daffodils are springing up and blooming by the side of the road.
Delicate blue flowers are taking over the woods.
The world is awash in aliveness. Nature is getting on with the business of Spring.
Sometimes I must train my eyes what to see again, and what to focus on.
I need to pull my ears away from the prevailing stream of kvetching, and turn my focus to the other truth: that there are beautiful gifts for the eyes and the ears, everywhere. When I do that, I see a pair of Cardinals building a nest, and I forget about the raindrops.
What is the joy that your world is showing you today?
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