I expressed exactly no gratitude yesterday at waking around 4 and not being able to go back to sleep. I dragged myself out of bed at 5:45 and turned on the coffee pot. I grabbed a blanket and headed out to my parents' delightful covered lakeside deck to continue my ongoing relationship with The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt on my kindle.
I made myself take a quiet minute taking in my surroundings before burying my head in my ebook. The water was not glassy smooth and the sky was mostly covered in weird looking clouds, so it wasn't the most picturesque sunrise I've experienced there. Still, Lake Upsilon tops my list of favorite places, and it's a great one to sit quietly while everyone else sleeps.
I looked and listened and, for the first time in the several days we were there, payed attention to the nature surrounding me. I've never been accused of being a nature-lover. I don't hate it, I just would much prefer to sit on a deck and read than to hike or canoe. I heard no less than five different birdsongs while I watched animals poke in and out of the water. A great blue heron flew out from beneath our lower deck and I realized reluctantly that my former disdain for birds is waning. Six years of bird journaling in junior high and high school produced a certain hatred for those falling in the Aves class of animalia, but as my kids grow I find myself reaching way way back for some of that knowledge to pass on. It looks like I'll be digging out my copy of Birds of North America soon!
While I'd much have preferred to sleep in like everyone else yesterday morning, I so enjoyed my few minutes with nature (and my ebook).
I made myself take a quiet minute taking in my surroundings before burying my head in my ebook. The water was not glassy smooth and the sky was mostly covered in weird looking clouds, so it wasn't the most picturesque sunrise I've experienced there. Still, Lake Upsilon tops my list of favorite places, and it's a great one to sit quietly while everyone else sleeps.
I looked and listened and, for the first time in the several days we were there, payed attention to the nature surrounding me. I've never been accused of being a nature-lover. I don't hate it, I just would much prefer to sit on a deck and read than to hike or canoe. I heard no less than five different birdsongs while I watched animals poke in and out of the water. A great blue heron flew out from beneath our lower deck and I realized reluctantly that my former disdain for birds is waning. Six years of bird journaling in junior high and high school produced a certain hatred for those falling in the Aves class of animalia, but as my kids grow I find myself reaching way way back for some of that knowledge to pass on. It looks like I'll be digging out my copy of Birds of North America soon!
While I'd much have preferred to sleep in like everyone else yesterday morning, I so enjoyed my few minutes with nature (and my ebook).
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