Cold day reminds me

We experienced a cold snap this weekend to interrupt our mild winter, and although it was only here for two days it reminded me of something important.

This photo doesn't really have anything to do with what I'm about to say, but I thought it was an interesting sunrise. Actually, thinking about it more, a sunrise does have a lot to do with what I'm going to say...

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Because watching the sun rise is a perfect example to illustrate my point: It's important to stop sometimes and just take a look around. Listen. Just do nothing except observe.

I get so caught up with doing projects in the garden, that I often forget about enjoying it.

Yesterday afternoon while doing some work outside (in the cold-but-not-as-cold-as-Saturday-so-actually-feels-pretty-good air), I realized that the neighborhood was very quiet. It's one thing that I really love about the coldest days of winter. No noisy machines are running, there are very few if any people outside -- even the neighborhood dogs are quiet (or probably inside).

It's fantastic!

You can just stand still and listen to the birds, or squirrels, or whatever. Hearing some crunching leaves could mean squirrels, rabbits, deer -- maybe just a bird. It's one of my favorite things to do, and unless you like early, early morning in the summer garden (I do) I've found it's only possible to experience this quiet mid-day in winter. (Unless you're lucky enough to live far enough removed from other people, in which case the quiet is probably common -- don't take it for granted!)

Click for much larger version

So remember to take some time, observe, and just enjoy your garden space.

I'm going to make more of an effort to do this from now on.

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