Eyes open to beauty

My daughter gave me a  box of affirmations "Up the Garden Path"  from Affirmations, made locally in beautiful Bellingen.  The words for today were:

'Greet each day 

with your eyes open to beauty,

 your mind open to change,

and your heart open to love.' 

Paula Finn

I reckon I've done just that today!  Come on and join me......

I was up early and I could see by a glance out of the kitchen window

 that it was going to be something special.

 

So I headed up the hill camera at the ready and Cobba the dog

 running up the pathway ahead as usual!

The moon was still in view 

and this parrot seemed as though it was flying straight into the sun.

 

I turned my back to the sun and watched as my long shadow

 reached down to the trees across the paddock.

The warm rays of the morning sun turned the dry wintery western hills gold.

Cobba snuck off to seeing what was going on at the neighbour's place.

My eyes were drawn back into the hazy glare of the new day.

And I could hear the buzzing of bees around the old plum tree.

A pee wee sat atop the highest branch and dared the other birds to come near.

Translucent petals shone against the sky.

The bees were in heaven!

And it felt like I nearly was too!  

Isn't it great when an ordinary day turns out to be extraordinary? I think, as the  opening words say, it can be as simple as being open to the possibility.

Would love to hear what you think makes a day special.

Time to Reflect.

The sun was already low in the west when I closed the door on the farm accounts, escaping to stretch my legs and breathe some fresh air.  The dog leaped out from under the house, tail wagging. He finds book work boring too! 

A kookaburra kept one eye on us as we passed him by,

 but his gaze was out to the distance.

Down the hill we went at a spritely pace towards the dam

 surrounded by gum trees.

Cobba  frightened a pair of ducks and they took off  in an excited flap to circle above us. Tiny flying insects and water boatmen, and the plop of a water dragon launching from the bank, were all that remained.  

Clouds reflected in the rippled water

                               Cobba waited for me ~  not so patiently!

Gum leaves wafted in the breeze as I trudged up the hill.

There's always something to catch your eye 

(and let you get your breath back!) on the way up.

The sun was setting as I reached home, lovely soft soothing colours.

  I fed the dog, brought in some wood, 

and headed inside without another thought.

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As I am about to publish this post I am sitting with a heat pack on my lower back, having done too much in the garden yesterday.  My back is now suffering the consequences.  

It has made me think about just how much I take for granted every day ...... being able to go for a walk, bend down to pick up a feather, reach up to study leaves on a tree....things that you don't think about until you can't do them. For me it is just temporary, but others are not so lucky.  I hope that I will appreciate these things just a little more now.  

How about you?