Pages

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Learning to Take Life Easy

After a long winter of rain and cold and a spring that has accumulated a rainfall that totals more than we usually have in a year, everyone seems to be a bit out of sorts....even Amazing Grace...everyday I hope for sun on my days off and today my prayers were finally answered.


The sun was so bring that it's cheery light woke me early in the morning and I rushed to get outside and drink in the heat of the sun and putter in the garden.


I put together some hanging baskets from potting plants I'd bought hoping for a day like this.


I weeded my herb garden from which I am already cutting chives for my potatoes. In the bush nearby, I can hear baby birds crying for food and see a pair of white crowned sparrows flying in and out, worried that I am too close to their babies.


There are storm clouds moving across the sky...soon a few drops of rain begin to fall...and fall...and soon I am sopping wet, but I still see sun on the horizon, and I want to keep working...keep sifting the rich earth through my fingers that makes me feel alive again.

I bought this tree at Monterey Bay Aquarium several years ago when I attended Art and Soul at Asilomar. Everytime I look at it I think of the beautiful bay and charming shops of Carmel, CA. It loses its needles every year and I hold my breath until I see them arrive again the next year, hoping it will continue to grow and keep the memories of those happy days.


I've started to clear more of the grass away from the flower beds and create a path of potted plants that can be brought in to winter.








But finally I lose the sun and it begins to hail and I retreat to my car and decide to have a late lunch at Mon Ami, a crepery downtown that has a deliscious Pear, Ham and Brie crepe. I claim an outside table under the eaves and gaze up through the trees at the low grey clouds.


I savor each bite of my crepe and sip my black tea and meditate on the day...on how good it felt to have my hands in the earth and feel the sun beat down on my face...and how grateful I am to still have a place to call my own.


I kick back and rest my feet on the neighboring chair and give thanks for the little and big things I have in my life while listening to the birds in the nearby trees sing of their own joy at being alive.


3 comments:

Gwen said...

What a beautiful post, Jan! I can relate to your desire to be outside, we have had the same weather here. I love that you kept working in the rain, and that you were able to celebrate the joy of good work well done. I would LOVE to have one of those crepes--sounds delicious!!

Lucy said...

Beautiful post, your garden looks great. Pleased you are having good weather, it's darn cold here in Melbourne!
Love your socks!
Hugs Lucy from Oz

Suzanne Reynolds said...

Isn't it a wonder how we appreciate every little bit of sunshine that comes our way? I'll bet that people in Texas feel the same way when they get a trickle of rain.

I had the treat of having a very colorful male Western Tanager in my back yard on Saturday, along with the sun.