Moments in Time

I always seem to find joy in how I spend time during my day.  However there are a few moments of time that are especially enjoyable. Nothing is so important that I can't take a moment and enjoying a beautiful sunrise.  It only takes a brief moment, however it is nothing short of spectacular.  I am not a morning person by any means, but it is hard not to appreciate being awake when I get to enjoy a sight like this. 

As I stand outside I  hear the rooster crowing and the chickens clucking, slowly making their way out of their coop.  The dog is sleepily stretching.  The kittens are playing while the older cats lay lazily watching them frolic about the yard.  I can hear my children quietly getting ready for school inside.  Everyone is awake around me and calmly starting their day.  I savor the gentle start to the day.  It seems once the sun peeks above the horizon, the sounds of the day intensify with the light of the sun.  The once gentle morning breaks way to the busy pace of a day in full motion.

Then evening arrives, quicker now during winter.  I walk around our property doing chores, talking to the animals, watching and listening.  The chickens are quietly roosting in their coop, the pony is contentedly eating, the cats are finding a soft cozy spot to sleep, and the dog is following me around investigating every snap of a twig.  The Cardinals have stopped their chirping and as I stand in the wooded area, I can hear the sound of their wings as they fly from the brush up into their nests in the trees.  They softly chirp one last time while settling in as the sun slips down below the horizon in a beautiful display of color.  Once again everything is quiet, still, gentle, and calm.

Cooking Over an Open Fire

We are supposed to be remodeling our little farm, but often we find that when we are working there, we are so relaxed that we take breaks and sit and relax together as a family, enjoying nature and the beautiful spring weather we have been having.  I have no desire to spend time in this house in town, but must keep living here until the end of school for convenience, necessity, and function.  Then I will be camping full time until our farm is remodeled.  There is nothing I have enjoyed more in my life than being at our farm.  It is everything I hoped for and more.  It is work, non stop work, but the rewarding kind, the kind that you sit back at the end of the day and feel that you have just spent the day investing in your future not just working on "stuff".  That is an important difference.

I am naturally an impatient person, I have always had a hard time waiting for everything, I'm naturally excited about life and new adventures  At first I was in a hurry up mode in regard to working on the new house, but now I find when we are there, I am ok with taking things slow and working on projects one at a time and not working at a frantic pace just to get finished.  It is deeply satisfying to see the progress....outside! :)  Right now our focus has been to get our animal pens and habitats built.  When it becomes hot and miserable as it does in the mid-west we will head inside and work.

The other evening I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and the freedom to cook by an open fire.  My dh dug a fire pit and coal pit and I cooked dinner outside on wood coals.  It was rewarding and delicious.  There is no comparison to the joy and peace of living in the country.