A Beautiful August Sunday

I know I've written several times this summer about what a wonderful summer I've been having, and with today being the last day of no worries, sitting on the deck in the early morning sunshine, reading, picking tomatoes from my garden, and generally just doing whatever strikes my fancy, I'm still enjoying all things that are summer. The weather couldn't be more perfect--low 70's with a slight breeze. The zinnias around the deck--magenta, orange, yellow, and pink--add so much color. In fact, our entire yard is so colorful that people stopping at our yard sale the last two days commented on how pretty everything is. A friend recently told me she loves how I've surrounded my family in beauty, and as I sit here watching the goldfinches feast on the sunflowers, these little things definitely add beauty to enjoy every moment of every day.

Along with all the gardening this summer, we've done a lot of cleaning and throwing away. Too much throwing away. I started in the downstairs closet and went from there, getting rid of things we didn't use, didn't want, forgot we even had. We ended our cleaning this past week with giving our attention to the abomination that is our garage. This morning, as we hung the last bike in such a way as to allow for better, easier use of the treadmill and the weight bench, we stood back and admired our work. Angel Baby came in when we were finishing up and said, "Wow, I didn't know we had this much space in the garage." While I love all the neatness that has happened from our cleaning, I don't love seeing all the stuff we've thrown away. Such a waste. The upside is we did take a lot to Goodwill, and we were able to sell quite a bit in the yard sale, but from now on, I will think long and hard before buying anything.

Tomorrow I return to work. I've decided to take it one day at a time and try to find the pleasure in teaching that I once had. I know it's still a part of me; I just need to allow myself to feel it, cultivate it, and share it.

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