As I walked out to our mulch bin by the garden this morning with our daily contribution of

[Atticus]

Last edited Sat Mar 19, 2022, 04:38 PM - Edit history (1)

coffee grounds, peelings and eggshells, a brisk northwest wind sliced into my freshly-shaved face. It wasn't really terribly cold---low to mid thirties---but walking straight into the 15 mile per hour wind made the "feels like" temperature down around 20 degrees. My first impulse was to walk faster so I could get back inside my warm home as quickly as possible. And then---I reconsidered and slowed down.

The wind was cold but the air was clean and I sucked it in and tasted spring. There, in the pines, a brilliant red cardinal was defying the chill and singing his heart out trying to persuade a drab female that "he's the one". Over there, purple crocuses had pushed through the leaf litter and over by the drive our forsythia was just beginning to show yellow.

The day will come when I would give much to once again make this chilly walk, taste this cold clean air and marvel at the birds and blossoms that are mine today for the bargain price of just an extra minute or so. If I am lucky, memory will allow me to reclaim it.

Carpe diem, y'all.

[cilla4progress]

1. Beautiful sentiment, Atticus.

Thanks for the reminder.

[tblue37]

2. William Wordsworth said something similar:

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

[Atticus]

3. Thank you for that. nt

[ariadne0614]

4. +1 n/t

[littlemissmartypants]

6. ❤

[c-rational]

8. +1 Thank you for this lovely poem.

[littlemissmartypants]

5. ❤

[erronis]

7. If the weather permits, a good dose of "forest bathing" or "nature therapy" will cure many ills

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_therapy

I'm getting a bit rickety so my walks are shorter and more careful. But after each one, no matter how short or long, I come back with a new perspective and interest in my environment.

[PWPippinesq]

27. May you walk long and well, and I with you.

i have often thought how different our messy world might be if more people had access to and could appreciate open skies, verdant forests and flowering meadows. Perhaps, in another world.

[padah513]

9. Beautiful prose

[alotus51]

10. Yup..

It does work that way if you let it. For a lot of years I lived on an old ranch on the coast outside a small town north of San Francisco. The first time I went there the silence was deafening, but I got used to it and it became normal and has stuck with me. I live in a different place now with it's own version of silence. But If I stop for a second and listen I can still hear that quiet silence near the ocean.

[FakeNoose]

11. The moral of this story is ... don't shave before you take out the garbage

At least not on cold mornings.

[ancianita]

12. Gratitude for you, Atticus.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. You truly have a way with words, my dear Atticus...This is lovely and poignant.

Yours is a great gift. Thank you for sharing it with all of us lucky enough to know you.

[MustLoveBeagles]

15. Thank you for sharing

This is a beautiful post. 💕

[Stuart G]

16. Thank You for sharing with us. Wonderful !!

[Joe Nation]

17. However, cardinals are predominately monogamous and will mate for life.

Probably not looking for a mate unless it was a yearling.

[wnylib]

21. Or a widower starting over. Or maybe

he's happily mated and just expressing his happiness.

[11 Bravo]

18. You have a gift, Atticus ...

with words, thoughts, and feelings.

I enjoy your posts.

[BlueTexasMan]

19. Eyes to see..ears to hear

Well done.

[jaxexpat]

20. I miss the crocuses but not the chill wind.

Here in the sunny, sandy first coast of the previous century's vacation paradise the cardinals are accompanied by the mighty wrens and thunderstorms. I didn't realize how much spellcheck actually hated crocuses.

[AmBlue]

22. Love, love this.

I felt like I was there. Thank you for sharing.

[xxqqqzme]

23. I hear you and

recall soaking up winter so I could feel it again in a hot, humid July day. I discovered being able to find some stored January relief in July. Thanks for the memory.

[Sogo]

24. Well said!

It took us right to the moment.....

[rlegro]

25. Man, I read you.

I was out at our compost bin this very morning, It was raining and about 35 degrees F, but othewise I had your very experience. The male cardinal here apparently won his song contest, because I saw him with his new girl friend later in the day taking turns at our feeder. And the chipmunks came out for the first time this season, scouting our yard at warp speed. Lovely, rich, nature reawakening.

[DFW]

26. It was similar weather here yesterday

There was a lot going on here yesterday, as hou might imagine.

Suffice it to say the diem got carped.

[MiHale]

28. Great way to start the day...

Enjoying the simple things in life.

[PittBlue]

29. Thank you for sharing the beauty of your experience.

[Scrivener7]

30. Thank you for the reminder to notice and experience the good things!

[hwmnbn]

31. In the moment...

May all our lives be spent there.

Thank you Atticus.

[Baitball Blogger]

32. I nominate this sentence of the year:

"The wind was cold but the air was clean and I sucked it in and tasted spring"

[niyad]

33. Thank you for sharing this. It is important to be aware, to be grateful, to appreciate

even what seem like small things. They feed our souls. So glad you had that moment, and shared it.