Things that make me happy

I don't want to list the obvious things like love and friends and get all gushy. So instead I'd rather share with you the things that have nothing to do with anyone else. They are things that I enjoy with myself, private moments of joy, gratitude and sometimes speechless awe and amazement. In those moments its hard to put words to the feelings that come through me. Sometimes its quiet and calm, and sometimes I feel like I could burst with excitement and joy and thrill.

Recently it was a very loud bird. I was inside and I could hear what I thought was several birds, all shouting their respective calls. There was something quite urgent about the calls, like someone calling their children in to come in and eat dinner. It sounded like they were all pretty close by and as I'm always curious to actually see which bird is making which call (took me years to figure out a cardinal's call), I figured I'd go out in the back yard and hope to not scare them away. I could tell the sound was coming from the crape myrtle in the corner and I got closer and closer, trying to be quiet (all while looking down in the grass for the snake I saw the other day), to catch a glimpse of the birds before they flew away. Well I kept hearing the different calls and finally zoomed in a one little bird. I was directly under him, looking at him move his little beak as he changed tone, pitch and melody for each call. I must have heard him make at least 5 or 6 different sounds. All very different. And I'm pretty sure he saw me. He didn't fly away though, he just kept at it. I didn't want to push it so I only stayed close by for a couple of minutes, he seemed to be on a mission and I didn't want to interfere. So I went back inside and kept listening, seeing in my head what he looked like. I smiled all over my body, inside and out. I felt so lucky, privileged and just damn special to have seen him.

I don't know what it is about hearing a bird and finding the one making the sound that makes me feel so happy. I also don't know what it is about this particular house we live in that I also hear birds at night. I've yet to have it confirmed by someone that isn't just saying "I believe YOU are hearing birds baby". It doesn't happen all the time and it's almost always sometime between midnight at 1 in the morning, when it does happen. It doesn't happen for very long. Oh but when it does, talk about going to sleep with a smile!

I'll write in the next post about my encounter with a snake in the back yard. It was awesome! I have to figure out what the heck I did with the one picture I did manage to take.

Something else that's making me happy lately. The progress on my painting! It's coming along splendidly. I can't wait to show this new series this year!

1 comments :: Things that make me happy

  1. hi Monioca - thanks for your very nice note! Oh how I love my neighbor feathered friends too. There are some Carolina wrens that are pretty darned noisy early in the mornings, but I love their pretty songs. I am enjoying the chattering of the purple martins and the occasional warble of a woodpecker. We throw peanuts out on the ground around the feeders to attract bluejays and I love to watch them open the shells. They are such clever birds!

    Thank you for your friendly wishes for our wedding! I am very excited, it's weekend!

    Since I changed my blog privacy settings, the status doesn't update anymore when I add new posts, but I'm adding to both blogs - the diary and the photo blog, time permitting.

    Enjoy your week, blow a kiss to those baby birds from me too.
    :)

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