When was the last time you stopped and listened to your surroundings? I mean Really listened? When I was in my early twenties and living in florida attending college for recording engineering, we were taught a small trick to listen for when an album sounds right in the studio… Sit and close your eyes. Listen very intently to your surroundings, what do you hear and where? Make note of these things.
As I sit on my patio listening to my surroundings, I hear two woodpeckers in a battle like the dueling banjos. The wind rustling the grass in the fields. This is a different sound depending on the moisture and weight of seeds. The soft tick of the dogs claws on the stone of the patio. The cheep of the baby sparrows in the birdhouse, calling for the parents to return with food. The screech of the bald eagle in flight. The soft thump of the kittens attempting to pounce on a flower. (It must have looked at them funny) and my sip and sigh of contentment. This list could go on for days, but it gathers enough to center and calm myself. I come out here and drink my morning coffee and listen, that’s all.
As a parent, business owner and a person, I have a very busy schedule. Somehow, I came on the belief that we all need to slow down and remember the simple things in life. Otherwise, life gets to you and we can forget what is really important. Coming from a family that is riddled with pretty much every major health issue , I went out on a limb early on and started seeking for a better way. Fortunately, Quilting is such a great stress remover ( Boy was I ever relieved!) I kept that.
I made a concerted effort to take care of my skin and eat better. To find the simple joys and make every moment worth remembering. I am by no means perfect. On occasion I get mad, I eat bad food, I hold in my stresses. I simply choose to let it go… However, one thing kept eating at me… Thistles.
Ever since I moved into my house I would look out the window at the fields and wish those pesky thistles would disappear. Walking through them is like through a minefield of thorns. They are so plentiful I would avoid my fields entirely.
Then, one day last week…I saw them. These yellow birds. They are in the Finch family. Must have been at least two dozen of them. Flitting across the tops of the fields. Where you may ask were they so happily landing? Right on those thistles. The sight was pure magic. And at that moment I thought… “o.k. the thistles stay”

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I hope you enjoy your day with as much glee as you can possible muster.

Diana
www.thequiltingcottage.com