Today has just flown by, don’t know what I accomplished if anything. Oldest brother came by to tell me had taken his new puppy to vet brother for a checkup. He was talking about the dog like it was a grandchild. Good to see him so happy about something. We checked on my garden and he gave me advice on my tomatoes and squash, unsolicited, but always useful.

My little zinnias are just as thrilled as I am about them sprouting so quickly. I put pine straw around them yesterday and today some of them were peeking up through the straw, green as jelly beans from the rain’s nitrogen. Got a few sunflowers getting ready to open their blooms behind the bird feeders. Excited to see them and watch them follow the sun. Planted a dozen or more kinds of sunflowers in the zinnia garden and I’m looking forward to watching them bloom. Only a few of the sunflower seeds are peeking through the soil. I think of sunflowers as old souls and I think they have a harder time pushing up through the garden soil.

I sat on the porch under a vanilla ice cream sky and watched the different colors of clouds as they jostled and gathered together throughout the afternoon. Father Sky sketched some dark purple rain clouds but they didn’t drop their heavy rain here. Don’t know why but some birds love a rainy day, specially the cardinals. The cardinal males are so crimson today they look fluorescent. A flock of purple finches is loudly fussing over their favorite feeder perches.

Yesterday I put a whole roll of pine straw around the ugly space at the mailbox to cover up some old stumps. Looks goofy piled so high but I’m going to put some plants in pots there and push the pine straw down. Stew just came out and looked over at the mail box and said, “Who killed Big Foot at the mail box?” I looked over there and seriously it looked just like Big Foot lying there. I could see the head and the torso, the arms and legs, one leg bent at the knees and slightly lifted up. Looked just like a body covered in pine straw, seriously! Maybe I should push it down with the rake and check! Maybe Boots, the neighborhood yard dog, drug a body home. She collects what ever gets left in the yards. One of my neighbors saw her prancing by one day with a bird pillow off my porch. He stopped her, got it away, and brought the pillow back to me. I’ve said this before, Boots walks just like John Travolta in the beginning of Saturday Night Fever. I hear the music as she prances by, each paw in perfect rhythm with the music. Love watching that dog walk down the sidewalk.

Did not do any quote searching today. Guess I’m tired from all the pine strawing yesterday. I just sat and didn’t ponder, enjoying watching the sky change colors and the birds frolicking on the feeders. The pageant of sunset was carried on behind the clouds and I didn’t get a ticket to watch the pageant tonight. I know sunset was a glorious watercolor portrait of the sun painted by Mother Nature. Father Sky had to work to pull the moon and stars from their clouds covers, snug and snoring, to hang them in the night sky. The glorious day goes to bed and the wondrous night awakens.

As we all work in our yards and gardens or just enjoy taking care of our porch plants this summer lets remember to “plant seeds of happiness, hope, success and love; it will all come back to you in abundance. This is the law of nature,” Steve Maraboli.

Goodnight and a favorite blessing to my friends —

“May the sun bring you new energy by day, may the moon softly restore you by night, may the rain wash away your worries, may the breeze blow new strength into your being, may you walk gently through the world and know it’s beauty all the days of your life.” — Apache Blessing