makes me happy

Shadow Creatures

Image description: A photo of mine and Khalee’s shadow cast by the setting sun onto the evergreen trees on the other side of the path below the sidewalk where she and I are standing. The grass on the slope down to the path is in the foreground, the asphalt path runs diagonally down towards the right hand side of the photo and there are trees and grass on the other side partially lit by the sun. Gaps in the lower branches of the trees create interesting shapes that look a bit like other creatures behind Khalee.

1) I wish I had the photography skills to have made a really artsy shot here.

2) I didn’t notice at the time that the gaps in the trees looked like short invisible creatures were standing behind Khalee and casting a shadow but I like the effect.

Snail Friend

Image description: a close-up photo yellow-gold snail shell (with a snail inside) affixed to a green maple leaf. There are other leaves and maple keys right behind the first leaf and in the out-of-focus background is a white plastic chair against my red shed.

Do I know that snails can be pests? Yes.

Do I love them anyway? Yes.

Last night while I was meditating in my backyard swing, I accidentally opened my eyes at one point and spotted this snail on a leaf across the yard.

I thought ‘I hope he doesn’t move before I finish meditating and get over there to take a picture.

Then I realized time was on my side because a snail travels at snail speed so I went back to focusing on my breath.

Working Outside

I can’t decide if it is easier or harder to get things done when this is my view.

A photo of potted flowers at the corner of a patio deck.
Image description: the corner of my backyard deck across from my chair. I stood up to get a better angle. The focus of the picture is an arrangement of pots of flowers, some are on a wire rack, some are on a table and some are on the deck floor. The flowers include begonias, a variety of dahlias, some marigolds and others and they include pink, purple, red, and yellow flowers. The corner of my blue yoga mat is at the bottom of the photo and my shed, trees, and some green grass with a large patch of sunshine in the middle is in the background.

Smooth Sunday

Yesterday’s experiment was a success.

At the end of the day I felt both relaxed and accomplished and I didn’t feel like I had pushed myself too hard.

I have no specific plans today so I am going to keep my brain mostly unleashed and allow myself to move from task to task in whatever order makes sense.

I’ve already put some clothes on the line, dusted a few shelves, and did a little reading.

Now I’m going to read a bit more while I drink my tea and then I’ll dust a few more shelves.

I’m really hoping this approach not only helps me relax but also helps me get used to working on a task without the need to ‘get it done before I forget.’

PS – I know that relaxation and housework don’t really go together but housework needs to get done and this approach keeps me from spending my whole day hyper-focused on it.

Yesterday