Spring Break!

 I am so grateful for this week off for spring break. I’m on day 4 of the 10 day break and already I’ve gotten quite a bit done in the yard—the typical early spring clean up of fallen branches, dead flower stalks, leaves, etc. I love the bright palette of colors that meets the eye nearly everywhere you look. The intense greens of new grass, the softer greens of new leaves beginning to unfurl, bright yellows of forsythia, soft pink cherry blossoms—all set against a light blue sky. They all proclaim, new life!

Easter Sunday was quiet overall. Although, haha, the newly visiting family at church with young children made for quite the boisterous Easter service. Mama was somewhat successful at shushing and warning of “no bike rides later” to get them to quiet down, at least initially. The cries of distress slowly grew as the service wore on. When they finally got to get out some energy by walking up to the alter for communion they were happy, only to put up quite the ruckus when they found themselves ushered back into the pew. This time they were the successful ones as Mama, apparently deciding the decibel level had reached an inappropriate pitch, ushered them out of the church. I couldn’t help but think of Jesus’ words, “Let the little children come to me.” I had to smile with a mix of sympathy and relief.

Today, I am finding myself feeling refreshed after visiting with dear friends earlier and then having come home to do a wee bit of work picking up sticks in the yard so Bill could mow the grass before a storm system moves in overnight that’s to bring heavy rain.

Ah…I so appreciate the opportunity to go with the flow, to join with the rhythm of life lived at a slower pace. 

Some things on my mind lately include:

1) A desire to cut back on social media consumption. I deleted my FB app on both my phone and ipad to help eliminate the bad habit of mindlessly tapping to see what the new alert is all about.

2) Along the same lines, I continue to feel led to make room for quiet in order to listen to the Spirit’s teaching in my life.

3) My favorite Christian mystic and teacher is George MacDonald, so this week I plan to dip my toes back into his writings. Perhaps reading a mix of his Unspoken Sermons and listening to one of his Fictional works on LibriVox.org is in order.

4) Yesterday I ordered a book on bird photography that will hopefully help me to continue to hone my skills. I have much to learn. It’s a slow process of trial and error, listening to professionals (youtube is great), and reading and trying to apply what I’m learning. One of the seasoned professionals that I was listening to recently reassured me that this process will take time (years) and that’s ok. It felt good to be reassured of this.

5) I feel like I need another embroidery project. So I’ll be spending some time picking something out, perhaps here. (Later edit: I love the Crewel Company’s designs, but not sure I’m up for the price tag. Though I can imagine how difficult it must be to make a living as an artist, so perhaps I’ll end up ordering a kit. For now, I ordered this book by Ukrainian embroiderer, Tatiana Popova. I was able to find her FB account where she has posted that she is in Australia while her husband and sons remain in Ukraine at this time. My heart goes out to her.)

I’ll leave you with a few pics I took over the weekend.

I checked in a and found that the bluebirds have made their nest. Hopefully mama is now in the egg laying stage.