A hummingbird visited the flower bed in the front of the house. On the back deck, sitting with a friend for breakfast and a leisurely chat, I watched a variety of wasps and flies buzz through, interested in the underside of the big umbrella. The other day, as I walked in the woods, a pileated woodpecker flew up from a fallen tree trunk, the bird’s size astonishing me. The cats chase fireflies in the evening.
The chicks, meanwhile, have been moved from the laundry room to the deluxe chicken coop out next to the garden. Their feathers are coming in, and they race across their yard flapping their wings.
We’ve worked hard on this house and land, and only in the last few days have I been able to pause to look and listen and notice. I delight in the morning bird chorus, and am mesmerized by the late-day sunlight angling through the tree trunks. There’s a peacefulness all around, even as life is busy in its many ways.
© Anton Zuiker