Sat outside the WHOLE day today. Loved every minute of it. That’s the beauty of retirement to me. No agenda, just let the day plan itself. Love laying my head on the pillow at night time and knowing tomorrow is anything I want it to be. Ate breakfast and lunch in the swing. Watched the sun clear the sky of cotton boll clouds. Just a beautiful second day of spring. Mother Nature pulled out all her spring surprises from her magic bag today. The beautiful blue sky, the cotton boll clouds, the warm sunshine on the colorful pansies, the myriad greening of the trees, the flocks of song birds chirping. Then she finished the day with a pink, blue, and purple sunset. She also flew in three butterflies that visited my pansies. Well done old girl! I took a photo of the black swallowtail sitting on a pot of pansies. AND two hummingbirds stopped at my feeders. Hope they’ll tell their friends to come by.

My pansies were worshipping the sun today and standing straight up. They are not big fans of the 80 degree weather coming our way the next few days. I’ll just have to talk to them more and keep them well watered. They got a big drink of Miracle Grow yesterday. Oldest brother told me some critter made a bed in his beautiful pot of miniature pansies. The critter better stay away cause brother will be “capping” him if he catches him in there again.

Did not see my catbird and his cowbird choir friends today. Guess they were only booked for one concert in Roanoke. Today the noisy yellow goldfinches and the cardinals dined with doves, wood thrushes, and blue nuthatches. Saw the little downy woodpecker on one of the suet feeders. He loves suet. He really is a beautiful little bird. He sometimes hangs upside down on the feeder. Used to have a woodpecker suet feeder that had a tail prop on it. I need to get some of those. I’ve had three different woodpecker species visit my wire basket suet feeders. Birds start eating at day’s first light and continue till dark. They’d have to be worn out from all that flitting around and seed cracking. They don’t even sleep in their nests at night. They sleep in brush piles, dense bushes, or crooks in trees. Their nests are usually dirty and mite infested after they raise their young.

Bird watching is such a peaceful, joyful hobby. If I ever feel gloomy, just a few minutes of bird watching cheers me up. Modern birds existed a hundred million years ago. Hard to believe that dinosaurs are birds’ cousins.

Been trying to think of why I enjoy birds. I think song birds are a gift from God. I love their songs in the early hours, the absolute silence of the day’s beginning when they sing their little hearts out. The hustle and bustle of the fast paced world drowns their songs out when the working day hours begin. I love to watch the flocks sway in the wind as they fly in patterns through the yards on my street. As they turn, in perfect harmony, and change directions, the sun points out their beautiful colors.

I love the large gray shadows of the turkey buzzards flying in circles up high. Their shadows drift across the street and dance on the pink brick wall. I love the little song birds loud flitting and arguing over the bird feeder perches. Love seeing all the cardinals. My heart tells me they are gifts from Chief.

Watching the wood thrush bathe in the bird bath enthralls me like a child. I love my bobbing head doves with their pink feet. Their unsteady dances on the power lines tickle me. And the goldfinches, who arrived on the anniversary of Rosie’s death, have comforted me with their presence. The little birds are the epitome of being free and courageous. They sit on the tiniest branch knowing when the branch sways and bends, they are safe with their wings. I feel the same way about God. He keeps me safe under his wings when life sways and bends.

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”—Joan Walsh Anglund. We all have a song, we just have to have the confidence to sing.