summer greens at Mountain Glen Farm

summer greens at Mountain Glen Farm

Monday, August 10, 2015

Great Day To Fabulous Day In Minutes


Today was one of those days that went from great to fabulous in less than sixty minutes.  Quilt frankly, I have many of these kinds of days at Mountain Glen Farm and each one is noteworthy enough to share.


 
 
Before heading out of the house this morning to take my walk, I noticed a hummingbird flitting about the back deck.  First, I saw him try to feed on the respirator that was sitting on the top block of my soon-to-be greenhouse foundation wall.  I give the hummingbird credit as the respirator is a bright pink.


 

The hummingbird quickly darted to small tiny pink flowers that grow in one of my deck pots.  I do not know the name of the flower, but it returns every year as a secondary volunteer plant to the main perennial that purposefully grows in the same pot. This is a favorite flower of mine…maybe, because it is more a surprise to see it appear without any help from me.
 
That hummingbird entertained me for minutes before moving on.  What a 'put a smile on your face' encounter to start my day.


As I began, I noticed that the morning was perfect for my walk.  It was cool (around 65 degrees) and overcast (the sun was just trying to peak out from behind the clouds). No noticeable humidity. A few minutes down the road, a gentle wind blew.  Yep, I need to adjust my perfect morning attributes to include a pleasant, refreshing breeze.


I was so comfortable and content.


Halfway to the pond, I thought that today would be a day that I would see my Great Blue Heron.  My heron sightings have been rare this season and it has been quite a while since I last enjoyed a heron view.  As I neared the pond, I slowed my gait.  I wanted to be sure to see his flight from the water. But…


No heron today.  So, I moved onto the pond house dock to feed the fish which has become my routine task. 

 
Leaving the pond house, I was able to loop back to the house on a different route rather than backtrack on the same path as I had been doing for weeks.  The cattle have rotated to the back pastures and I can now make the loop walk without having to open and close gates which is a hassle.  Before leaving the pond area, I decided I wanted a photo of the large cattail patch.  The blades are so tall and green and the brown cattails are still fairly firm and pristine.  As I stepped within feet of the patch, an unidentified bird shot up and flew across the pond.  Its silhouette was different than any I had ever witnessed.  I watched the bird as it walked along the top post of a fence section.  Could it be a green heron?  Final bird identification would be made once I returned home and was able to peruse my bird book.

 

Yes, a green heron.  Wow! I saw my heron as I had predicted.  Maybe not the Great Blue, but the Green was even more exciting as that species is even more rare on my list of actual sightings.

 


Can you see the 4-leaf clover?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As I left the pond proper and walked the short incline to the next pasture, I came upon a 4-leaf clover in plain view.  Among all the other three-leaf clovers, this 4-leaf drew my attention. What luck…literally, what luck! 

 


Like I mentioned earlier, my great day turned fabulous.  Now, luck (I am assuming of the good variety) was added to this amazing day.

 
As I finished my daily saunter, I considered what would make this particular day even better.  My answer was a monarch butterfly.  I had been seeing swallowtails all summer long, but not one monarch. I wanted to see a monarch. But, was I asking for too much now?


Midafternoon, Glenn and I returned to the pond for a quick swim.  And, guess what I saw in flight?


I saw a stately Monarch butterfly quickly flying past my head.

 
I stopped thinking about what would make this day even better than it already was.  The day was already extremely full of surprises/bonuses/simple pleasures.


I have plenty of days yet to fill with unexpected delights. 

 
Tomorrow is another day.

 

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