Breathe...

I shut my eyes so I can just listen. Listen to nature and nothing all at the same time. My private back deck is the place for quiet meditation.

The previous owners built a beautiful Japanese garden theme. This would be extra beautiful if I didn’t have the black thumb of death. Not that I’ve killed everything, but let’s just say that it’s a bit overgrown and kind of has a life of its own.

 I believe I could walk naked as a jay bird through at least half of my back yard and nobody would see me or my pasty white ass. (I haven’t tested this theory during the day) Needless to say, the backyard is a place of solitude for me.

The pace of my life can be frantic at times, but I’m working on slowing down - maybe even taking a moment for myself for a change.

As I listen to the cicadas sing their late summer song in the dying of the light, I realize that summer is nearly over already. Where did it go this year?

My eyes open and I look around. The setting sun has bleached the color from the sky. You know the color – right after the electric blue and right before twilight.  Everything skyward is either black or white. All the trees and bushes are muted when only a minute ago their colors popped out at me with the bright and deep greens.

I hear the squeaking of the bats flying overhead and I quickly look out for the fireflies that are still hidden within the safety of the bushes.

I take my time to appreciate the moment. I try to think of it as being shown a bit of magic that usually stays hidden until you’re open to see it. It’s not that I don’t get many moments; it’s just that sometimes I forget to be open and slow down a little. It’s the story of my life rush, rush, rush, hurry, hurry, hurry. Gotta go here, gotta go there, don’t forget this, oh shit I forgot that.

So, sometimes I’ve gotta stop and smell the roses, or listen to the cicada’s sing, or the bats squeak so I can be reminded that life is more than just rushing around.