What I'd Been Missing

This week has been such a mixed bag. We had our cars break down. Then later fixed by my dear husband and a wonderful family friend. They worked on it until 3am Monday night. I'm so pleased to have a vehicle once again!

I was also able to visit with my mother in law who was in town for the day. Ryan and I had such a nice time with her. She is Catholic and taught us more about her understanding of St. Patrick. I found it very interesting and clarified things for us. It would be nice to look into it more in depth and separate what the man was really about instead of wearing green and drinking green beer. Ugh, beer! Thank goodness we don't drink!

She did teach us that the shamrock was symbolic of the Catholic belief in the Trinity. In my own belief system we know that the Godhead consists of three distinct and separate personages Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost-- separate and distinct, but one in purpose.

When she left we packed up our fishing gear and hit the road. It's awesome to have a van again!

I'm grateful today for a fishing trip my son Ryan and I took yesterday. It was a beautiful, fun day! He had to hold me up because I'd worn tennis shoes and had no traction on the boat ramp covered with snow. He had his fishing waders on and had grippers on his shoes.

Once we got down to the bank and stopped laughing, we got down to business. We had three fishing poles and he had hundreds of lures and jigs for us to try out. It gave me a sense of freedom to try out my new fishing pole he'd made me buy last week. It was on sale and it really was lighter than the boys rods were.

As I looked around and breathed deeply the fresh crisp air I was filled with such a sense of well being and peace. This part of the upper Mississippi was open water all winter. The nuclear power plant in Monticello was a gift to many water fowl who wintered over this year and in years past.

I couldn't believe how many different species of geese I could see. They were flying low by the time they passed us--sometimes even turning their heads to look at us below. Then the most breathtaking scene unfolded before our eyes. An entire flock of swans glided down to meet us and land in the water not too far away! It was like a dream! Their calls filled the air and left me holding my breathe. What a gift! It got even better when I looked across the river to watch the ducks that were paired off and doing their mating dance and looked up to watch a bald eagle land in the top of craggy oak tree. It's calls joined in whistling it's warning. In those moments I was so grateful Ryan had insisted I come along.

I'm reminded today that taking time find balance in our lives is so important. How often do we forget to behold the beauty God has given us to enjoy? The gift of life is all around us and yet sometimes we're too busy to breathe in deeply what God has given us. The smell of freshly turned earth in the spring, the fragrant flowers soon to bloom-- that add a blanket of color to the whites and browns of winter, are long awaited.

Each of us can find beauty in the place in which we dwell. If you live in an apartment you still have birds you can feed and attract to your window sill. My friend in Russia hangs feeders from her balcony. It brings the song birds to her and she can enjoy them up close. She has sent pictures of the flowering trees in a nearby park she walks to.

We can each find nature in the towns and cities in which we dwell. We just have to be willing to look and listen and take the time to breathe in deeply what we've been given. I'm grateful for my son ,who reminded his mom the writer, what she'd been missing. I plan on taking a break more often to enjoy and appreciate the world around me more from now on.