What Do You See?

Quick! Look out a window of your home or office.

What do you see?

Do you simply yawn and say to yourself, “There’s nothing new to see here. It’s just like it always is?” Or do you look for the beauty of the day no matter what the weather? This morning when I woke up I was happy to see that the sun was shining. (It’s November and sunny days aren’t all that common here in Minnesota in November.) Then I noticed that it had rained during the night or early morning hours. The street and our driveway were wet. And the grass and trees had that fresh clean post-rain look.

What a beautiful day!

When I looked out my office window I saw that our front yard was filled with wild turkeys, eleven in all! And though I grabbed my camera to quickly make some photos of them through the window, my camera settings weren’t ideal for their quick movements so my photos of them are blurry. But I still enjoy the photos, imperfect as they are.

Wild animal visitations of all kinds in our yard make me happy. We don’t have bears or wolves in this area though I would welcome seeing them so long as I was inside the house and they were outside. But I love seeing the different birds, squirrels, chipmunks, woodchucks, muskrats, deer, fox, frogs, and turtles that do share this land with us.

Seeing beauty, living with a sense of wonder, and feeling gratitude are choices I make consciously most days. They are part of my larger choice to choose joy in my life.

Yes! No!

How necessary it is to have opinions! I think the spotted trout
lilies are satisfied, standing a few inches above the earth. I
think serenity is not something you just find in the world,
like a plum tree, holding up its white petals.

The violets, along the river, are opening their blue faces, like
small dark lanterns.

The green mosses, being so many, are as good as brawny.

How important it is to walk along, not in haste but slowly,
looking at everything and calling out

Yes! No! The

swan, for all his pomp, his robes of glass and petals, wants
only to be allowed to live on the nameless pond. The catbrier
is without fault. The water thrushes, down along the sloppy
rocks, are going crazy with happiness. Imagination it better
than a sharp instrument. To pay attention, this is our endless
and proper work.

— Mary Oliver

What do you see when you look out your windows? And what do you see inside your home? Can you find beauty in ordinary scenes or in the light and shadows?

May you walk in beauty.

Photo of turkeys through the window of my office. Leaf decals on window are to keep birds from trying to fly into the window.

This tree across the street is hanging onto its leaves

The pond this morning was full of fall reflections

The maple tree that was so brilliant a few weeks ago has only a few leaves left

Shoveler duck in the pond, mid-November 2020

Shoveler ducks on the pond, November 2020