The day before yesterday I saw the first signs of water at the edge of the mostly frozen pond. Then yesterday late afternoon I saw
Ducks in the Pond
for the first time this spring!
There wasn’t much space for them to swim in but they were dabbling and finding something to eat there at the edge of the pond.
You have to look closely to see them, but there are two male mallards and one female mallard feeding in the small patch of melt water.
The melt continues to slowly proceed, though I have been wishing for it to speed up a bit. Here are the first seven days of my photos of the backyard melt proceeding ever to slowly.
The slope at the edge of our yard behind the storage shed is now snow-free. It’s only a small area, but I count each snow-free square foot as progress towards the true arrival of spring.
A Day of Rest
Yesterday I took a day of rest. I didn’t write or work on photographs. Nor did I cook, clean house, or do laundry. We had our daughters, their partners, and our grandchildren at our house Saturday for lunch and games. It was great fun but all of the cooking and preparation wore me out. So Sunday was truly a much needed day of rest.
When you rest, you catch your breath and it holds you up, like water wings…
— Anne Lamott
I sat and finished reading a book that my granddaughter recommended to me. It was a fun read! I’m excited because there are two more books in the series that I plan to read as soon as I can. And I began a mystery novel set in a vineyard in Aix en Provence, France. Finally I finished the day by watching a couple of episodes of the Great British Baking Show.
It was a perfect way to slow down and replenish my spirit. Too often I push through pain to try to do more. And my body and spirit were worn from all of the pushing I’ve been doing lately. Sometimes I need to listen to what my body is telling me instead of pushing through.
I always forget how important the empty days are, how important it may be sometimes not to expect to produce anything, even a few lines in a journal. A day when one has not pushed oneself to the limit seems a damaged, damaging day, a sinful day. Not so! The most valuable thing one can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of a room.
― Journal of a Solitude
I sat on the deck yesterday and soaked up the sunshine, listening to birds sing. There was a cardinal singly loudly and beautifully, proudly announcing his territory. I recorded his song on my cell phone and then turned up the volume and played it back so that he could hear it. He immediately began singing louder and longer.
All in all yesterday was a perfect do-nothing day. And it wasn’t really doing nothing, since resting and replenishing the spirit is a necessary part of a balanced life.
Real rest feels like every cell is thanking you for taking care of you. It’s calm, not full of checklists and chores. It’s simple: not multitasking; not fixing broken things.
— Jennifer Williamson
When was the last time you took a day of rest?
May you walk in beauty.
Medicine Lake just after sunset one night last week
Reflection of me relaxing on the deck yesterday
Sitting in the sun on the deck
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