View From The Swing

What a beautiful day it is today. After everything was done inside, I went outside to sit on the swing in the front yard. I love my swing. Jerry gave it to me for my birthday two years ago, and it's one of my favorite places to be. I brought a book outside with me, but the world around me held my attention too much for me to pay attention to the book.

I saw that the blossoms on the plum tree were beginning to open up. I noticed how the grass had grown so quickly after the last rain, and where there were brown dirt patches before, now there was green. I saw a chalk line drawn across the blue sky as if by an invisible hand. Oh, I know there must have been a plane before it, but I couldn't see the plane; just the line being drawn. I watched two red-tailed hawks fly back and forth bringing items to build a nest in the little patch of woods next to our driveway. One of them was carrying what looked like a very long ribbon in its beak. At least it wasn't a squirrel this time; we have seen them carry whole squirrels in their talons before. As I was pulling into the driveway one day I must have startled a hawk that was carrying a squirrel. Andy and I saw the hawk drop something large. We got out to see what it had dropped, and it was a dead squirrel. The hawk eyed us warily from a tree but didn't come back to retrieve his dinner until we had gone back up to the house.

I watched our old cardinal friend singing in the plum tree. This is a male cardinal who begins at about 7 o'clock every morning pecking at all the mirrors on all the vehicles in the driveway. He should know by now that this is his territory, but he still fights his reflection each and every morning. I saw a goldfinch eat from the thistle feeder. His dull brown winter coat has now changed to bright yellow for the summer. In between enjoying everything around me, I had to keep a close eye on our handicapped cat. I thought he would enjoy the outdoors today, so I brought him outside with me, but he was very busy, and wouldn't stay in one place very long. He acted as though the whole yard was new to him and he had to explore every part of it! When he decided to go around to the side of the house, I decided it was time to go inside. As I was walking around to the back yard, I caught sight of something else that made me glad for days like today - clothes on my clothesline! There is something very peaceful about watching clothes sway gently back and forth, and knowing that when you wear them, they will smell wonderful! In an earlier post I mentioned that I could not live where there were not four distinct seasons; I also could not live where I could not have a clothesline. Some of the new neighborhoods around me won't allow clotheslines as they feel it "detracts from the scenery", but I feel sorry for the people there. They are missing out on one of the simple pleasures of life. One day last week I had hung all of Andy's bedding outside and that night when he went to bed he exclaimed, "Mom! My blanket smells like sunshine!". I like that description very much!

Now that warm weather is here (at least for today), I will finish cleaning the back porch so we can have dinner out there tonight. Maybe I'll leave the clothes on the line until then to provide a little dinner ambiance!