Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Morning Musings

Morning Musings

I can't help but wonder how long my cat, P, will be able to resist the temptation to jump off the back deck to reach the grass growing below. She has been out here with me for about an hour now and the other cat, B, has been content to now retreat into the coolness of the indoors. But P is pacing the window screen which I have perched in front of the stairway, and she is giving particular attention to the ground below as she pokes her head in between the railing posts. Again she retreats and lays out in a sprawl on the beams of the deck floor, in the shade. You can always rely on her to find the first sunbeams hitting the deck, but now it is the cool of the shade in which she rests, and I feel the warmth of the sunbeam as it falls across my neck and hands at the mini keyboard before me, typing these words of thought.

It is a grand morning and we have thoroughly enjoyed the morning sounds and breezes. The mature jasmine resting in the corner is sharing such glorious fragrance this morning that it is a heady experience. Birds are chirping away and a bee is buzzing just outside the railing that it is a wonder that P is so calm now. There is a small fountain gently coaxing water down the frog and lily pad theme and it masks other sounds which are surely in the distance, as we are not all that far from the interstate and it is abuzz with activity on this fine morning in Alabama. There is just enough breeze for the chimes are singing their own cheery tune and one can watch but for an instance to know that there is a lot of life happening in the out of doors today.

I hear the sounds of trucks moving about and so surely there is some building and moving of things around; all the normal sounds of today and there is comfort in that.

If one were to read the papers today; one would find a lot of turmoil, some self inflicted and some at the hand of outside forces. The oil spill in the gulf is still making the news but not on the front page of the Wall Street Journal today. It has been fifty plus long days already and the major headline for most of it, as it well should be. I wonder if people will come away more informed about oil and how we get it into our homes and cars and such, or if after the sensation of this episode eases, we continue the path of those generally uninformed about how things work in this modern world and economy of ours? I wonder.

I hope to dig out a bit of compost today and plant the two remaining tomato seedlings from the greenhouse as well as a couple more pepper plants. It would surely be nice to have all the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squash that I can stand to eat, share and preserve as possible this summer; perhaps the insects will cooperate with me and share this time. There is a hay bale garden that seems to be coming along pretty nicely out back now so we'll see how well this does. It seems that we don't quite have enough hours of sunlight in any one place to really thrive in this gardening sense but we keep giving it a try and I've done some selective pruning of limbs in the sky so that maybe there will be enough. One can hope.

That was quite the jolt to look up and see that I had inadvertently hit the + and enlarged the text to 195% on the screen, how did that happen:)

The wind seems to have picked up as it is rustling the trees in the woods and leaves are all a flutter. I feel a deep breath coming and find that it relaxes me and P; as she does a roll over onto her side, enjoying the moment; good girl.

I guess B is content to be inside by himself as he is not tapping on the door to return to the deck with us; content in his own company for now. We could all learn something about that from him. B is the one who will go off and sleep for hours and then reappear and crawl up into my lap for for stroke time. He is a truly loving cat; and will insist on this face time, even if I'm doing something else, typing on a computer perhaps:) He is always waiting for his opportunity though and has pushed through onto the keyboard in my lap when necessary as if to say, "enough about that" for now:)

I enjoyed a good face book chat with an old friend, Jayne, this morning and marvel at the distances of time and space that we now breach with just the type of a keyboard and moments online; all of which used not to be. For all the criticisms of the non personal nature of the internet, I find it to be quite the contrary, allowing contact with people who I would never be able to see and communicate with any other way; impaired by time, finances, and the nature of modern life. It would be nice to just travel around visiting with old friends, family and acquaintances all the time, but who can do that really, and so we have face book, and for that I am thankful; just a tool for sure, but one that is useful.

I've finished reading a few more words by Isaiah and will continue it for several more days. Has anything really changed since he penned these words from God, I think not. He has surely done marvelous things and if you were close enough this morning, you would have heard me singing this song, as it came to mind as I read. I think God is smiling at me.

The quiet has now been joined by the sound of a mower next door and so it feels a little hotter out here now. Interesting isn't it, how noise changes other things, but just wanted to take the time to jot down some thoughts this morning as they come and go. I wonder what more will come today and it would be good for me to make it to the grocery and restock the pantry, as I polish off a peach from the refrigerator. There is one more in there but maybe there is some nice fresh produce waiting for me at the market today. Much to do and it is good; breathe deep:)

Ah, now P has moved over onto my feet and is rolling around as if to thank me for the morning, nice:)