Magical Monday

This past Friday in the early afternoon, Phil's girlfriend, Kelly, and the dog she was dog-sitting, arrived to share a bit of the weekend with me and with Phil, who would arrive a few hours later.  Saturday was his first bass fishing tournament on the Mississippi. We had a delightful time. They left about noon on Sunday after a hearty Mothers' Day breakfast and a walk with the dog down the road.
Today is Phil's birthday and this morning I had been thinking about the day he was born and filled my mind with so many other memories of him as a child. I am immeasurably  proud of the man he has become and deeply thankful to his father. My heart was heavy missing both my special fellas.
But once again, I was blessed, the graces flowed, and I was uplifted.
The first magic came with a movement out in the orchard that caught my eye. I sprinted up the stairs, grabbed my Dad's field glasses and caught a glimpse of a gorgeous male pheasant walking into the meadow. Moments later he and his lady friend casually strolled back into the orchard, across the yard and right up to the house. Not wanting to startle them, I took photos through the windows. Here's a few.

After a relaxed, unhurried meander across the front lawn, they slipped through the fence and sauntered across the road. He came back this evening and after calling to Dovey and me through the kitchen window, walked back along the driveway once more to cross the road for the evening.
Later this morning, while watering the potted plantings on the south side of the house, I spotted this little fellow in the strawberry jar.

I dug out 3 heaping wheel barrows full of weeds and grasses from the vegetable and flower beds today. The weather was perfection, 77 degrees, full sun, soft breezes. To the south and west of me, farmers were plowing, planting, busy moving across their fields. My friend, Dave, brought his tractor, Flossie, to till my vegetable bed. Last fall I spread the chicken bedding over this plot, along with grass and fallen leaves that Jerome and I shredded with the lawn mower then collected and barrowed to the bed. This early March Eli spread a fresh load of horse manure over it all. Today the magic was revealed.

The soil is unbelievable. When I found Phoebie, who had escaped from the chicken yard, she was deliriously busy stuffing herself on insects and worms in this bed. She wouldn't be lured away and I had to pick her up and toss her back into her yard.
I have tried to be in the moment today as much as I can. Perhaps with heightened senses I've noticed things I might have missed otherwise. I've truly felt God's presence on these few acres and a deep sense of belonging and partnership with all the life that surrounds me here.
I wish this magic for each of you in the days ahead.
And happy birthday, dear Phillip. God bless.