An insanely long post (5)

(Balloon reflection.)

It’s day 5 and I’m feeling like I somehow got far behind where I thought I’d be right now.  However, when I think about that statement, it makes no sense.  I am right here, right now.  Where else could I possibly be?

M and I have been so busy getting out and about, and there is so much of it I’d like to share.  I’m going to have to learn how to sum it up quickly, I think.  Otherwise, I’m always going to be a day or two behind in my blog posts when what I’d rather post about is the current day.

(Raindrops on asters.)

Commitment unlocks the doors of imagination, allows vision, and gives us the ‘right stuff’ to turn our dreams into reality.  ~ James Womack

It is raining here in the Bogs today.  I thought about putting off my outdoor time until later in the day.  I had just finished my yoga and meditation practice, and I was feeling pretty relaxed.  I decided relaxed is a good way to feel when stepping out the door (not the back door, by the way, with the frogs but the door to the garage which is a favorite spot for spiders but they don’t fall on my head).

Rain is one of those weather conditions that usually keeps me indoors.  When I was a young girl, I used to love to go outside and play in the rain.  I did it every chance I got, something my grandmother, who was often babysitting my brothers and me, wasn’t always pleased about because I also had an affinity for mud.  Jumping and dancing in puddles was a favorite pastime.  I’m not sure when that changed.  No matter.  I’m going to learn to enjoy the rain again.

(This morning’s view of the pond.)

As I debated whether or not to take the camera along, the rain stopped so I strapped the camera around my neck and took my new camera bag along with me just in case it did decide to rain.  It’s not waterproof but it’s water resistant and would keep the camera dry long enough for me to find shelter since I decided I wouldn’t stray too far from home.  I have promised myself to leave the camera behind the next time it rains.  That way I can go out and enjoy it without concerns about what I’m carrying.

The decision to stay fairly close to home slowed me down on my walk which made me more aware of what was happening around me.  Or so I thought.  As I was slowly, almost meditatively, walking along the pond, peering into the meadows to see what was going on in there, I heard a splash up ahead.

Usually when there is a great blue heron feeding from our pond, they fly off as soon as anyone starts down the big hill towards the pond even though there is a good distance between the top of the hill and the back of the pond.  I was surprised and delighted when I turned my head to look in the direction of  the pond and saw this heron feeding, not all that far from where I was standing.  It had a long string of pond weeds in its mouth and it was chewing away at it a little at a time until it finally gulped the last 4-5 inches down in one swoop.  Or one gulp.

I watched it for a while and then remembered I had the camera.  I took a few shots.  I slowly tried to get a little closer, more for the sake of a photo than to actually see it.  My movement frightened it away of course, so I had to settle for listening to the sound of its wings flapping and watching it fly away.

There’s a lesson in that.

The Mum Fest

M and I had a good time at the Mum Fest.  The day was chilly and cloudy, but I think the cloudiness contributed to the way the colors of the mums popped.  There were 20,000 mums arranged in beautiful stripes of color throughout one section of the park.  Vendors were scattered around the block on the streets, and a water ski show took place at various times throughout the day on Lake Anna.  There was also a variety of music.  While we were there Heartbeat Afrika were playing their drums and keeping a good beat going.

For more about the Mum Fest, follow me after the break (in other words, click where it says “read more…”).

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