“Love is when all the glitter falls off and you still see the person sparkle,” Sneha Pal. At my age I know my glitter, if I even ever had any, is gone. Maybe those I love still see my sparkles. Found this quote in my desk this morning, one of my favorites.

A beautiful morning is in progress, deep blue sky, fluffy white clouds, blinding hot sunshine. We’ve had three sunshowers while I’ve been sitting in the swing this morning. Sunshowers are when it rains while the sun is shining. I love to sit on the porch when we have these showers. They are so pretty, cooling the air, refreshing everything. You can almost see the individual raindrops falling straight down on the sun’s rays. When I was looking for the correct word for raining when the sun is shining, I read, “in the southern United States a sunshower is said to occur when the devil is beating his wife.”

So many birds today. Cardinals, wrens, titmice, downy woodpeckers, Eurasian doves, a wood thrush, chickadees, and the jet pilot hummingbirds dive bombing the yellow petunias. The songbirds enjoyed the sunshowers, too. The cardinals always feed when there are rain showers, takes a heavy downpour to send them packing.

Since I’ve retired and become lazy and sloth-like, becoming a swing and reading chair potato, I’m noticing things that have been around but I just didn’t have the time to appreciate them. Now when I walk Penelope I see all the tiny exquisite wild flowers, imagining them as blooms in bridal bouquets of small wild animals. The larger wildflowers, I imagine a beautiful Creek Indian princess picking them for her wedding bouquet, making a magical matching headband for her glossy black hair. The wildflowers are watercolored in glorious colors, some vividly bright, some wondrously pale. I never even saw them till I left the working world behind and slowed down enough to appreciate the beauty of God’s creation. I’ve walked these sidewalks, strolled my children down these sidewalks, and never saw all the tiny fairy flowers.

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams,” Ashley Smith. I notice the beauty of a spider web and now treat it with respect instead of something to knock down and tear up. I notice how delicately the butterflies land on flower petals and how softly they fan the blooms with their wings.

I hear the twitter of hummingbird wings and the buzz of bumble bees. I hear the cardinals with their large orange beaks crunching the sunflower seeds open. I hear the squeaks of the doves’ wings when they take flight. I hear the hawk’s scream as he call his mate.

I notice the clouds and their beauty as they fluff up and fill with rain. I love to sit in the swing, watching the thunderhead clouds color purple, getting heavy with rain. I can smell the earthy rain on the way and I wait for the first clap of thunder and the lightning bolts to run me off the porch back in the house. Was a terrific boom of thunder late afternoon. Penelope ran under the bed.

I watch the neighborhood dog Bootsie jogging along the sidewalk on her daily walks around the neighborhood. Jet black with four snow white feet, she just bounces along as if she’s overflowing with doggy happiness. I always think of John Travolta walking down the street in Saturday Night Live when I watch Bootsie walk by, her head held high. I can actually hear the music play in my mind, her steps right on time to the song’s beat.

I notice the beautiful white hair and warm smile of my older neighbor as she walks up the street to pet my Penelope. She has loved dogs all her life and you can tell she would love to have another dog companion but doesn’t want to leave them without her. I understand.

I notice all the songbirds and marvel at their plumage, each bird unique in their own beauty. I notice how the birds treat each other, how they squabble over feeder perches. I watch the doves and squirrels scratch for seeds the birds have raked out, jumping up and over each other in their repast. I watch the birds drink from the bird fountain, laying their heads back so the water can run down their throats. I watch them bathe, fluttering their wings and dunking their heads. I’m mesmerized by their antics.

I watch the vegetables bloom and grow in the warm sunshine and marvel at how much a squash and cucumber can grow in a day. I see the large June beetle bugs and remember tying thread to their legs and holding it as they flew around. And I’m thinking now how that must have hurt them. I watch the sun kiss the tops of all the trees in the neighborhood and try to count all the different colors of green.

I sit in the cool of the day’s gloaming watching Mother Nature paint Father Sky’s blue sky canvas with God’s palette of ethereal watercolors as the sun rolls down the horizon and the day’s light dims. I hear the sounds of katydids and cicadas in my yard at dusk, watch the tiny night lights of the lightning bugs, listen to the softest pings of the wind chimes.

I watch the children at family gatherings when they don’t know I’m looking and wonder what the world holds for them. I love to watch them smile when they catch my eyes watching them. I love to hear them yell “Cannon Ball” loud enough to interrupt adult conversations. I hope there will be always be monarch butterflies and happy dogs and June bugs and singing songbirds and canon balls in their lives and the lives of their children and grandchildren.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 reads, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” God has given us a wondrous world. Enjoy its beauty as you travel life.

“Look at the world with the child’s eye — it is very beautiful.” — Kailash Satyarthi