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.
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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.
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| 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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