It has been a flurry of activity with the weather as it has been.  Warm and dry.  I love spending time outside.  This past week there has certainly been much to do, and keeping the grass mowed has been a chore.  First, the push-mower gets a workout mowing all around the house, and trimming the grass around the trees.  Then, I ride the big mower around the yard, getting time to sit and take it my surroundings as I steer around the two-plus acre plot.

I like to watch the cycle of life as it happens each year.  The birds are a great source of entertainment.  The robins works to find nesting places and I work to discourage them from nesting in places where they will create a huge mess!  The eastern phoebe finds a strategic location for its nest, and then works the air catching insects to feed the young.  We have one bluebird box on the property, and I am thrilled the bluebirds have started a second nesting already, having hatched and fledged their first youngsters.

I have another birdhouse built by a dear friend who lives far north the New England states.  The birdhouse has been in use for years, and has followed me from my old home to this home, hanging in an old, overgrown apple tree.  Today I spied a house wren busily flying in and out of that little house! 

Although they do not come visit when the mower is roaring, the deer are constant visitors all around the property.  Their coats have changed from a drab gray-brown to an almost cinnamon color for the upcoming summer.  The doe have had their fawns, and the spotted babies are a joy to watch as the clumsily play their way across the yard from one wooded spot to another.

There is a wild turkey hen that has been coming out of one section of the woods, picking her way across the lawn to a bird feeder, scratching for seeds, and then taking her time to enter another section of the woods.  I am hoping she will be bringing a brood to visit the lawn soon!

We observe so much by simply watching.

Even when I am away from the homestead there are many opportunities to watch.  I love to watch how other people move about, sometimes seemingly annoyed by the task at hand, sometimes with a small, knowing grin.  There are times I am saddened by the lack of patience some people show for others, or the lack of respect shown by those who pose as though they are the only people living on the planet.  I find great joy when I see a man taking time to help his mate with the grocery shopping. 

Simple pleasures.

I hope you take time to slow down and watch the world around you.  Be in the moment today.  We are not promised tomorrow.  Enjoy this wonderful gift we have been given!