You would think you’re in west Texas this morning, if you were here. The wind is scurrying leaves across the yard and blew our empty trash can across the road in front of our house while ago.
It rained early, and is cloudy still, with patches of sun shining through from time to time. When I first got up and opened our wide window in our bedroom looking out over our deck and back yard, I was struck by how many birds there were. They were everywhere.
The first I noticed was a big woodpecker flying across my view and landing near the top of a bare tree. There he wove back and forth with the bending branch and hung tight for a while. I saw another down on the dirt pile off to the side of the back yard. That one was pecking away looking for something to eat.
Then, birds were everywhere. A plump robin perched atop our lantern pole out front and blue jays flew by. There must have been dozens and dozens across our yards, front and back. We’re surrounded by woods and it is warm here – 70 degrees already this early February morning – so birds are vacationing, I suppose, from the harsh winters "up north."
Up north is how we refer to any territory above the Interstate 20, that cuts a swath east to west across the middle of Mississippi. Even northern Mississippi is "up north" to us. We live so far south we are nearly to the gulf of Mexico, some 30 miles or so, as the birds fly. Which they are doing in our yard.
Sometimes we see herons and seagulls wandering through. Whether driven by the wind or on a chase for food too far from their gulf waters home, it’s hard to say. But, they remind us that the sea is close by. Then, we long to be there to watch the sunsets over the water and to see the moon rise in its fullness, as it did on Monday night.
Meanwhile, we turn off the lights at night to go to bed and wonder at how brightly the moon bathes our deck and lights up the starry sky. It is so dark out here that we can see the milky way.
This is a good place to be living today. We are happy here and God has greatly blessed us. We do not know what lies ahead. Sometimes it is better not to think of such things at the age we are and in the age we live in. We content ourselves with what we perceive today; all around us, in our wonderful children, in our grandchildren in our friends we love so dear. And we hope to be blessings to everyone we meet in our daily chores this day.
May God richly bless your life today, too. Dee
Sounds like your place is much like our humble West Cocoa home.
It is so windy up here, the neighbor’s chicken laid the same egg three times.
When we get a windy day, it’s almost always a hot, dry wind coming in from the desert. But I love a windy day.
It’s relatively calm here in Amarillo, gusts to a mere 35 miles an hour. You have to be a strong golfer here or your drives come back at you.