I was sitting, enjoying the cool and quiet of the early morning on our back patio. It’s nice to sit and enjoy the increasingly floral view of the back yard/garden, appreciating the various plants and flowers as the season warms. There are also the colors of those we have added over the last few days. We remain hopeful the last freeze has indeed passed and that the evening thunderstorms bring rain and no hail.
After I sat for a while, I realized one should carefully look around before making any sudden moves. I missed the opportunity of nice pictures of a couple of plump Robins who without me realizing it, were very near after having decided I was probably just part of the patio furniture.
As I looked across the yard at the various flowers and plants both new and old who were waking to the quietly increasing light of the morning and the nourishment of the 6 a.m. automatic sprinklers, I realized I still have a few things the sprinklers won’t water and a birdbath they won’t fill.
Then I realized maybe that’s a good thing. In this increasingly automatic world, maybe there is value in the simple act of quietly watering…and filling the birdbath.
Maybe in all the craziness of the world in which we live, quietly watering a few flowers and plants and filling a bird bath is actually therapeutic and by doing so I have made a contribution to sanity…at least to mine.
Well said….in my youth (quite some time ago) we did the watering, and drank from the hose
Yes! I doubt that’s acceptable now.
Beautifully written.
Thank you….
Don,
There are some deep thoughts here while talking about silence and stillness. People need times of quiet, uninterrupted reflection. Christians especially. But you are right (and I am guilty), we have filled our lives with texts, videos, news, twitter feeds, and incessant notifications. There is simply no time for resting the mind properly. Thanks for this convincing thought!
Fewer and fewer places to find silence and stillness. I think of the Celtic Christians and their ‘thin places.’