Thursday's Perception

As I often complain of the 'ole man's' obsession with the lawn mowing duty, I find myself today once again enjoying the smell of freshly cut grass, and the peace that comes over me knowing all phones are indoors, so if the multitudes of our offspring are calling with yet another crisis... Urmmm..."Sorry I missed your call, please leave a message."

For several years now, the antics I have witnessed at times are difficult to believe. Friends have suggested I write a book. I am no author. M My very sparse proper grammar was lost in college - WHOAH - now THERE are some cobwebs. It seems the more I become reconnected with my "inner" self, much southern slang becomes verbal. At times, my Hill-living-redneck-old timey- old husband looks at me with a very puzzled expression. "Did YOU really say that Shannon ?"...followed by lots of laughter, then he'll boast, "I've been rubbing off on you haven't I ?" So ok. If it makes him feel good - let him go there. Ha. And I'll move on to the next perception.

It has been a peaceful few moments. A rarity. As I look up from my tablet, I see a proud cut male Appaloosa chasing a miniature male pony across the pasture because both of our mares are in full blooming heat. One of the baby goats has her head stuck on the outside of fence. My 17 year old just darted out of the back door with my Zebco too fast for me to realize it and stop him, my mother just called wanting the latest details in my daughter's life, and the husband made a round by me on the mower and dropped off a bundle of miniature wild roses - thorns and all, lawn mower fumes, and the racket of the mower's engine.... Guess he's trying. He's just new is all. I should probably appreciate the fact that he actually got off of the mower long enough to cut them.

Bless his heart. He's learning.

Memorial

Changes

Bracing myself for the changes ahead. Knowing that some are beyond my control, some will have to be controlled by me, and some that I have not been shown which direction they should take...just aware they have to take place.

Another Perception

I left work early yesterday to enjoy a little sunshine that we all have missed for weeks. I watched a mother robin pull a worm from our mud soaked driveway. We let the 3 remaining baby geese enjoy an afternoon of sunshine, having been confined to our back porch since their arrival - too small to know the dangers of the hawks that lerk just yards away. Our rain gauge showed another 2+ inches, not realizing that come August it will crack from dry heat, but thankful all the same that we may have a sufficient water reserve for our drinking water during the summer months. The husband attempted to mow the front of our property, only to make a single round and return the mower to the hill due to standing water on the yard. A phobia this is for him it seems. A very nervous condition that seems to occur twice a week, and has become a family joke. I often wonder how much truth there is to the theory that men mow because it drowns out the sound of children, or in our case, wives. And the magnificent color of the bluebirds, enough to remind me of God's wonder, appear and disappear as quickly as the realization of our insignificance.

Daddy doing services in Baghdad

This is our new horse Belle.

My son Bryton

Springtime over the pasture.

It Seems to be Spring Again

The smell of freshly cut grass blowing through the open kitchen window. The aroma of the marinade slowly burning off the wire rack in the gas grill as it preheats for tonight's nourishment. The hummingbird that startles me as I step out the back door, having interrupted its feeding frenzy. The pauses in time that are spent as I look over the back yard, making mental notes of which projects I will begin first, forgetting the bacon sizzling on the stove for my beans. My tiny moments in time, these moments of the early Spring, leave me with a sense of hope for brighter days and peace if only I will stop and savor them.