Time to enjoy the little things

This unexpected and prolonged time off of work has meant that I have had opportunities to embrace special moments, great and small.  Here are some of the recent highlights

Final Graduation  The youngest graduated from college.   Wow.  Phew.  His older brother took him skydiving for graduation.  I was so relieved when they both returned and did not find their nervous, pre-flight joking about life insurance and forgetting to pull the cord at all funny.  Yes I am blessed to have them both alive and well educated.  We have had a lot of time together this summer.  Two of us are looking for work.

Lucky 

Lucky

Happy, Liberated Frogs  Lucky the frog has completely acclimated to life in the pond.  He began croaking his lonesome "jug-a-rum" noise about a week after his liberation from the meat department at The Great Wall grocery store.  Last week my friend and I liberated two pals for him.  We chose smaller frogs, in hopes that one or both would be ladies.  We named them Lucky Lady and Sam.  They seemed stunned by the pond at first and then quickly became used to the good life.  Now two frogs sing at all hours of the day and night.  I hope that means that the third one is in fact a lady frog.  One day this week I bent down to pull a stick out of the pond and Lucky was right beneath me, unaware, and begin his "humm..jug-a-rum..." right next to me.  Wow what a voice and the echo off the water was intense.  He quickly realized I was there and made a loud "hruumph" and dove to the bottom.


On July 4 we had quite a show from the two male frogs, croaking and puffing out their chins and hopping all over one another.  It seems Lucky Lady was nowhere to be found and not receiving their signals that they were interested.  But we are still not sure if Lucky Lady is a man or a lady.  We can't get close enough to clearly see the color under the chin and the size of the ear circles.  The croaking goes on day and night.  It is quite a show.

One of the many creative displays at the Chesapeake Bay Exploration Center

Glorious days, Unplanned fun  There have been many beautiful weather days this year, but last week was exceptionally wonderful because it was so beastly hot the week before.  The first morning of the trio of glorious days, I woke up cheerful and ready to enjoy the day.  I cancelled out of my Bikram yoga class (sweating in 105-degrees was an unpleasant thought when it was barely 80-degrees outdoors).  I called my friend and an hour later we met around the beltway and drove together to Annapolis, Maryland and then over the Bay Bridge to Kent Island.   There we enjoyed walking by the water, eating crab cakes at a new waterside restaurant, Bridges, and visited the Chesapeake Bay Exploration Center that was filled with interesting hands-on exhibits (some creatively displayed in old kitchen appliances) and an observation tower with a spiral staircase.  The best part about the whole day is that it was completely spur of the moment (no time to make plans or change plans) and absolutely relaxing.

curious catbird in a ray of sunshine

Bird in the House  Last week I left the door open to let in the cool breeze.  When I returned to the room, a curious catbird flew in.  After a few disoriented minutes for both of us, including the dog barking when he finally realized his space had been invaded, and a sweet moment when the bird hopped on my wrist and looked up at me ask if to say "please help me out", my son interceded and suggested I simply open the window next to the bird and let him out.  Sometimes it takes another person to make you realize the obvious solutions.  Out he flew and that was that.  Today he was in the garden, intrigued by the bucket of compost.


Praying Mantis  When I sat down for lunch at Kent Island last week, a small brown praying mantis flew onto my arm and began to pray.  It was such a sweet moment and I felt the urge to join him, all the while conscious that restaurant patrons don't always take kindly to seeing "bugs" while eating.  So I held my hands out so he could stairstep up them, thinking he would just fly off and go about his business.  He had no intention of leaving me so I walked to the outskirts of the patio where there were small bushes to  place him on.  A little girl noticed him and said to her grandmother, "look, that lady has a grasshopper."  Clearly not a bug fan (at least in restaurants), the grandmother scowled; I thought it best not to show her that it was actually a praying mantis.  I put him on the bush, hopeful that he would find others of his kind and glad to have had that little moment of prayer with him.

Juniper after the haircut

Juniper clippings

Haircut  While work is scarce, my haircuts are intermittent and I appreciate them all the more.  There is nothing like feeling that your hair looks good.  At my last appointment, I was surprised at how much hair I needed to have cut.  Recently, I gave the juniper bonsai a haircut and was amazed at the pile of clippings.  Taking care of these small trees requires patience and at the same time gives me the opportunity to meditate and enjoy nature and the act of giving.  While doing my caretaking, I watched the birds, listened to the frogs croaking, and relaxed.

First day of flying lessons

More flying lessons

Flying Lessons   The mother robins have been giving flying lessons in our backyard and not all of the children are good at it yet.  They spend a lot of time complaining loudly and the moms leave them unattended so that they are forced to try to fly.  One sat on the deck railing for a long time, not even calling his mother but looking fearfully at the ground and his surroundings, as if paralyzed.  Eventually, he flew and in the next several days I saw him with his sibling who was less fearful and a bit better at the art.

Three's a Crowd   There was a nest of baby robins in the hedge across the street.  My neighbor and I had a good time watching their hungry little heads bobbing up and down when a branch moved or they heard a noise that sounded like mom coming with dinner.  They opened their beaks in anticipation of a yummy worm and squawked disappointedly when they were not rewarded.  They were stuffed in their nest so tightly that it looked as if it would burst open.  The day after I took this photo, their mother brought them to my yard for lessons and they have not returned to the nest.  They probably no longer fit.