Today has been a beautiful day in so many ways. Ate breakfast on the porch enjoying all the birds and watching the wispy clouds float by on the blue horizon. There was a cool breeze and the porch was very pleasant. A slight wind chime song serenaded me. The birds were singing happily. A thunder storm in Mississippi was moving towards Alabama and when the wind picked up I brought all my porch cushions and pillows in the house. Seems like that’s all I’ve done the last few days is fetch the cushions in and then fetch the cushions back out to the swings. I’m thankful for the rain, we need it for the gardens and lawns.

Saw some wondrous butterflies today. Didn’t disturb them while they flitted from flower to flower in my yard and porch. They were so prettily dressed in pale yellow, azure blue, orange and black. I looked the butterflies up and even their names are beautiful — Summer Azure, Clouded Sulphur, and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. I decided to watch the bird feeders for new visitors and I saw a male goldfinch gussied up in his bright yellow and black feathers. Saw some purple finches, who had dipped themselves in raspberry juice, and some pine siskins, feathered in browns and tans and blacks. The birds never cease to amaze me and give me so much pleasure. I really love them and their delicate beauty.

During the rain storm, I watched this very tall bamboo, between my house and the neighbor’s house, dance while the storm was playing out. It would bend to their house and then bend to my house. It would lie back and shake its branches. Really looked like it was dancing and so happy to be in the rain. I need to cut it down but I enjoy its antics in the wind. Have a little squirrel that risks his life and jumps from this bamboo onto my roof and back again occasionally.

When I was getting the cushions in the house I watched a big squirrel jump from the power lines to my oak tree. Soon as he landed on the tree branch, the limb fell from the tree and crashed on the driveway. The squirrel rode the dead limb to the ground. I watched the squirrel jump off the limb and run away. Bet that scared him. Didn’t seem to have hurt him. They really are acrobats. They run up and down the power lines on the side of my house and leap to the bamboo, leap to the oak tree. I love to watch them. Some times they run and play tag and almost fall off the power lines with their antics.

After supper I came back to the porch to sit in the swing and watch for the raspberry clouds. The hummingbirds were flying around the feeders and fighting. You could hear their jet engines when they flew across the porch. My granddaughter FaceTimed me so I came back in the house and enjoyed talking to her and her brothers and her mama and daddy. Everybody was well and happy and enjoying the beginning of the new school year. I’m so thankful for them and the joy and happiness they bring to my life.

After our conversations I headed back to the porch to wait for the clouds to change colors. I took two beautiful photos of the sun painting the clouds at dusk. It’s amazing how quickly the clouds are transformed with different colors and how fleeting it is. Only lasts a few seconds. Saw one cloud shaped just like a large hand. Couldn’t help but think of God reaching out and welcoming someone to heaven. The cloud was huge. The hand was open, waiting for another hand to reach out. Made me think of sitting by Chief’s bedside when he was dying and thinking of Rosie reaching out for his hand, welcoming him to heaven.

All that beauty the sunsets provide and most don’t have the time to stop and marvel at the beautiful colors. I didn’t use to enjoy the sunsets but I watch every day now, thankful to see another day ending with the promise of tomorrow.

Each day hold so many wonders. If only we had the time to slow down and enjoy them all. Family responsibilities are important and with school starting there’s not enough hours in the day for young families. Mother Nature is so splendiferous and doesn’t wait for us to enjoy her beauty. She paints her exquisite sunsets and sets her creatures free to roam and fly around without a thought of us enjoying them. She also sends us scents of gardenias and magnolias blooming and the musical sounds of the birds and coyotes and cicadas and crickets. She’s really quite an old gal!

“When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps,” — John Lennon.