Filled up all the bird feeders this morning. It was cold, my hands froze. The water in the bird baths was frozen. The cardinals and titmice sat on the power line, feathers fluffed up, patiently waiting for me to finish. I know they were hungry. I put out fresh suet in the feeders for the woodpeckers. A tiny downy woodpecker, guess he was just learning his flight patterns, hit the suet feeder too fast and got a roller coast ride as the feeder swung back and forth. Didn’t deter him, he held on, and just kept eating and swinging.

Fatty sat on the bird feeder outside the lady den windows and knocked it off again. I wrote Santa Claus to please bring me a squirrel proof feeder for that pole. I even took a little piece of wire and wired the feeder to the pole but the wire and feeder just slid down to the ground. Kat almost got him today. He shot up a bamboo stalk to get away. Maybe that will deter him. Guess I’ll get another slinky. Fatty stays off the slinky poles. When I win the lottery I’m going to change all my bird feeders to squirrel proof ones. I put corn and peanuts in the shell in the squirrel feeder but Fatty is a greedy little critter.

The sky at sunset dusk was full of blue clouds…never seen this before. I first thought it was Father Sky’s sketches peeking through some golden light from the sun but as I walked Penelope I realized the clouds were a paradise ocean blue. Such a beautiful gift to see at the end of the day. These beauties of God and Mother Nature are so fleeting, you look away, the scene is completely different when you glance up again. Those beautiful colors in the sunsets cannot be reproduced, they belong only on God’s palette that he shares with Mother Nature. These ephemeral paintings need our full attention to be appreciated. I am so captivated by the sunsets, all the glorious colors melding together, forming a magnificent watercolor painting. People probably think I’m drunk as I stumble around walking Penelope, trying to watch the sunset pageant instead of watching where I’m walking.

I think our lives are full of fleeting moments, brief moments of happiness and joy that give beauty and truth to life. We have many routine moments in life too, experienced and interrupted with the distractions of the modern world. It’s funny to think those fleeting moments can’t be planned or anticipated but are little God given blessings that come unexpectedly. Just like the wondrous sunrises and sunsets. In Matthew 6:34, Jesus tells his followers to avoid worrying about tomorrow and focus on the present moment.

We have to make a conscious effort teach ourselves to learn to live in the moment. Let the joy wash over us in fleeting moments of happiness, soaking in the experience without distractions. These moments are few and fleeting, as magnificient as God’s glorious sunsets.

“Be happy in the moment, that’s enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.” — Mother Teresa