Monday, August 13, 2018

Monday Morning.....

Every morning. usually around nine thirty or so, I go outside in the yard, and take the dogs with me. As the seasons progress, the time may become a bit later and I add a sweater until true cold comes in December.

I started this routine for the canines in the household. If I let them out in the back yard, they may play for ten to fifteen minutes. But if someone is outside with them, they will be happy for an hour. Sometimes lying on the grass, sometimes exploring the large yard, sometimes doing everything that they can to catch rabbits and the squirrels who torment them. 


See dog at back of photo eating..........grass

Little dog

The truth is though, that these days I do it as much for myself. Sometimes I sit on the swing or day dream or perhaps fall semi asleep again. Sometimes I do my morning meditation outside. Sometimes I knit. Sometimes I read my kindle. Once in awhile I traverse down the walk to the lower tables and chairs. Today I allowed myself less than ten minutes of soaking in the morning sun.  

See chair turned to temporarily sun worship, and I praying those grapes survive the Japanese beetles


We want to remove the bush and the fence and rebuild pergoal here to extend patio......at a sideways angle....we think

Most of the time though, I do.......absolutely nothing. This morning I took my knitting out and knit no more than two rows before I left off to day dream and enjoy my surroundings. I took a picture of the yard and the pergola (now covered by grape vines which give me unlimited privacy (I am big into privacy, and would not be happy if someone did something to their side of said fence or yard that eliminated it). Our indecision on the pergola continues to grow, as we now are considering moving it behind the grill and putting it at a ninety degree angle and extending the patio.Yes, that ground is as brown as it looks. Colorado in August, my friends. No lawn mowing to speak of and no trimming.  



Yes, we have an upper yard and a lower yard



Back to nothingness.....Doing nothing, my friends, is highly underrated. Many of the same people who say they are jealous of my ability to sit and read my book club book on the patio or take my tablet out and work on my blog are stumped by the idea of just...sitting. Sitting without doing a crossword puzzle, or reading a book, or writing in a journal or visiting with friends while having drinks. Sitting, while doing nothing.

While I like to joke that this is my meditation time, rarely do I meditate. Sometimes I save my morning prayer time for when I go outside, or do my daily journaling. But I would be lying if this was not the exception rather than the rule. My phone is in my pocket as a time tracker and camera, but rarely do I use it for anything else. I generally, seriously, do nothing during this time.

Afterward, I come into the house, spend an hour or so online, do the morning things that need to be done. In the afternoon I have lunch, and do my "thing" be it retreating to the sewing room (today) and then reading or hitting lunch and knitting (Wednesday). But except for the one occasional day I am needed to volunteer, I take my quiet time in the morning and no one had better interrupt me. Even my son has learned that if he is home and comes outside, talking to me is not the best use of his time. And while my sister still works, when she retires, I expect she'll learn the same thing. This isn't "Don't talk to me because I'm not awake", but rather, "This is my time and I'll be with you later.

Sometimes, we need to just be. Were I to be honest, I think that one of the problems of the world is that people have forgotten to just "be". If they want to be calm they feel they need to meditate, pray, plan, walk, read or whatever. All those things have value. But there is also value in putting all of that away, closing your eyes, checking out your surroundings and simply being. In place. Where you are.

At least for me.

13 comments:

  1. I love how you enjoy your quiet time relaxing on your patio, and your yard is pretty and a great haven for your dogs and you. I note that your dog eats grass too, like my Bounce. I am considering buying a swing for my yard, I think it sounds peaceful.

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    1. He eats alot more than just the grass on occasion....plants, rabbit pellets, but in this case the freshly mowed grass was his think. Thankfully. I loooove my metal swing.

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  2. Your morning time with the dogs is what I do in the early evening with my dog. We all need these quiet times outside, I think. I read some place were we need to go barefoot on grass or dirt once a day. We don't have dirt here so I've added five minutes of standing on grass....felt weird at first but I do get the connection to natures it's supposed to invoke.

    Your yard looks very tranquil!

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    1. I used to love to go barefoot but now that I'm borderline diabetic it's discouraged, but I still kick off my shoes when I sit.

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  3. I do wish that I could sit quietly and do nothing. I envy you your lovely restful mornings.

    God bless.

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  4. I'm reminded of The Color Purple - sometimes I set and think and sometimes I just set. I often have a "meeting with myself" first thing in the morning - quiet time on the porch in the summer, in front of the wood stove in the winter. It's a good start to the day.

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  5. Here here for just sitting and enjoying it and taking in your surroundings! I think you have the right idea. I just recently told someone I was going on vacation. They asked what I would be doing. I said, Hopefully enjoying my morning coffee outside and staring into the beautiful surroundings. They said, "no really what are you going to do?" I have no idea. My plans are to relax and if that means just sitting so be it. I need to be able to unwind, relax so I can come back refreshed and energized to deal with work again. Why is that a bad thing? If people would stop more and just be, maybe all this anger would leave them.

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    1. Good for you. Sometimes a vacation is "travel". Sometimes it's just plain relaxation.

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  6. The longer I am retired, the more I sink into the "being-ness" of Life. Long mornings just "puttering.." or an afternoon spent reading. Time in the kitchen,cooking, is always fun for me. I also enjoy poring over old cookbooks and reading them like novels!! When the weather cools down some we will be out hiking some mornigns again, but for now, the summer heat means quiet mornings, a swim in the pool, and an extra cup of coffee .....

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    1. Yes. I was just thinking that general wisdom aside, our Septembers are much more filled with sun and "going".

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  7. Thank you for advocating for just sitting and being. This summer, my first in retirement, I too have starting sitting outside with my morning coffee. I let my thoughts roam and try to just “be here now”.

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Thanks for stopping by! I love to hear from others, and I also love to hear all points of view.. Just leave the profanity and insults at home, OK? Thanks!!