“The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.” ~ Paulo Coelho
Good Sunday morning, dear friends. I do hope this finds everyone well and that you have enjoyed a good week.
While sitting in the garden yesterday, enjoying a few rain-free moments, I was thinking about the world crisis we find ourselves enduring. A situation that appears will be with us for quite some time. At first, my thoughts seemed to be quite scattered, but the beauty of our garden quickly focused my mind on the sound of bird song and the fragrance of the Jessamine.
This crisis has made us think of so many things, hasn’t it? Personally, I vow to pay more attention to absolutely every detail along my daily path. Although, I do not believe I have ever taken the beauty of our world for granted or the enjoyment of little things, such as a beautiful bowl of fresh strawberries in the spring. But what about the farmers who work late into the night, often under adverse conditions, just to bring me this beautiful bowl of sweet berries? Have I appreciated them enough? My lovely bowl of berries would not be on my table without them. Truly, our farmers belong on a pedestal and deserve our utmost appreciation.
So, you see, what I do think I have taken for granted is the promise of what would always be here. The promise we would always have our farmers and their farms. It never occurred to me I might not see a spring without juicy sweet berries, or our stores not filled with the many fruits and vegetables we so enjoy. It is a promise that holds great joy to see these things arrive in the stores and markets or go with friends to the ‘pick your own’ fields. A promise I will never take for granted again. I am wiser now.
“Sweet May hath come to love us, Flowers, trees, their blossoms don; And through the blue heavens above us The very clouds move on.” ~ Heinrich Heine
But, in the midst of it all, spring is slowly coming to life and moving forward. The birds are building their nests (everywhere), finches are singing and the doves are ‘cooing’…and the world is about to explode with blooms. The bees are buzzing and the butterflies are doing what they do best ~ adding beauty to our days.
I do love to hear the chatter of the sweet goldfinch. They are lovely and happy little birds.
Bees are such hard-working little girls. We must make every possible effort not to harm them, they are vital to our survival.
Butterflies beautify our world and are a precious gift from above.
And…
“Never yet was a springtime, when the buds forgot to bloom.” ~Margaret Elizabeth Sangster
Iris, Earl of Essex
“April advanced to May. A bright, serene May it was; days of blue sky and placid sunshine…” ~ Charlotte Brontë
Dear friends, this spring I vow to pay attention to my surroundings. To appreciate every minute detail and every lovely fragrance the breeze blows my way. How about you?
Wishing you and yours a glorious day on this first Sunday of May.
Enjoy these magnificent spring days!
“The temple bell stops ~ but the sound keeps coming out of the flowers.” ~ Matsuo Basho
Amour,
Sandra
Images: via tumblr, M.S. Lambiotte
Good morning Sandra. What wonderful sentiments and beautiful images for this lovely Sunday. If I have learned anything from this crisis, I hope it is to take nothing for granted. It has been the most beautiful spring, but I think my eyes are more open to soak in its loveliness. Wishing you and Michael a joy-filled day♥️
Good morning, Pam. Thank you for your kind words. I do believe that every one of us truly has our eyes open. Perhaps, this awareness will blossom into greatness. Wishing you and yours a glorious spring day. Blessings, my friend.❤
Happy May to you, Sandra. I have always been attentive to details of nature, but my awareness is definitely heightened for the luxury freedom allows us, something we should never take for granted.
Good morning, Rita, and a happy May to you also. Yes, our freedom is certainly a luxury not to be taken for granted. There are so many things which have come from this crisis that I do believe will make us better and stronger people – not to mention kinder. Have a great week, my friend.❤
I, too, have taken to noticing things more, valuing them more intensely, being aware. I think this is a good thing. And gratitude is front of mind, each and every day. Your words are the most articulate, thoughtful expressions of the gift of this plague. We need to grab our gifts where we can find them.
Good morning, Jeanie. Yes, we do need to “grab our gifts where we can find them.” And, I believe we will all see those gifts more clearly as a result of this crisis. Thank you for your kind words and have a lovely day and week ahead.❤
Happy Sunday, Sandra! Such a perfect and beautiful post for this morning. Coming from a family of cattle ranchers and dairy farmers and an agricultural community I have always realized the hard work and dedication that goes into this line of work. I have witnessed my own father putting in such long hours. I have taken for granted that we could just go to the grocery store and get whatever we needed. We have been ordering our groceries online, and the wait to pickup curbside is usually a week with many of the items ordered not available. After trying for several weeks, I was so excited to be able to get baking powder and vanilla on my order this week. Such simple items that I took for granted and never really gave much thought to. I am so grateful for all of those working so hard to make sure we have food and supplies and that our orders are filled. My prayers are also with the health care workers. I know this will pass…we just have to have faith. I hope you have a beautiful week full of sunshine and blessings, sweet friend!!!
Dear Shannon, thank you for your thoughts this morning. When we lived in Virginia we lived in the rural area of our city. There were fields upon fields of strawberries, sweet potatoes, corn, and wheat. I would watch the farmers late into the night cutting the corn and wheat. I gained quite an appreciation for them. And, I think that is why I was so disappointed in myself that I never gave a thought to the fact that they both could be gone. I have read so much about how difficult cattle ranching is and my husband’s family had a dairy farm, so I understand the restrictions and hard work there.
I pray and believe that great things will blossom from these days and I do have faith it will all end. But, I think it will be awhile. Like you, I pray for our health care workers, they are among the bravest people in our land.
Wishing you a lovely day and week ahead. Stay well, dear friend. ❤
Thank you for this beautiful post and encouragement in these difficult days. I live in a poor and violent country,it makes all things worse…Praying God all the time to save the world and people that I love.Blessings.
Dear Maristella, I join you in praying for God to save our world. And, I pray for you to stay well and be safe. Wishing you a beautiful day and week ahead. Many blessings, dear one.❤
Beautiful post. I couldn’t agree with you more.
Thank you, Penny. Wishing you a beautiful day and week ahead.❤
Oh Sandra, you’ve raised the topic well this morning. Like you, I have been tried to be appreciative of the many good things in our world, but maybe not always well enough. And now, in the midst of these strange days, to think about our food sources being troubled, it makes me much more aware, much more appreciative, and much more careful not to waste and be careless with what we do have.
We’ve been enjoying some lovely strawberries this week. And I have thought of those who spent their life energy picking this fruit for us to enjoy. Lord, bless them. Help us to make life better for them too.
Your post is a magical place of beauty and wonder — I thank you from my heart for this moment to reflect with you.
Happy day….
Brenda
xox
Dear Brenda, how I thank you for your beautiful comments. Like you, we have been enjoying some sweet berries this week and I believe they are what brought my thoughts to a halt and made me realize a few things and think. You are right, “Lord, bless them and help us to make life better for them.” We would truly be in trouble without our farmers and those who help them harvest the crops. I pray we never see those days occur.
Wishing you a beautiful day and week ahead. Sending you love, and wishing you many blessings.❤
Such a beautiful post of gorgeous images and quotes but your thoughts about appreciating all that goes into our food supply and not taking things for granted is very timely. Appreciating all the people that serve has come to the forefront during this crisis. May God bless and protect them all. May we always be thankful for every blessing. Every day is a gift!
Our weather is gorgeous. So pleasant and beautiful! I am feeling very blessed even though I wish there could be normalcy and we could see and hug our friends and family.
Good morning, Bonnie and thank you for your kind words. Yes, every day is a gift and I, too, am thankful for all our many blessings. It is a glorious blessing to see the blue sky and green grass.
We have a beautiful day this morning as well, but more rain for the week. We will be able to see our friends and family again and the hugs will be sweeter than ever. Wishing you a beautiful week, my friend. ❤
Friend Sandra, I love what you left in your publication and the authors’ quotes, always interesting. Strawberries are beautiful and I will also tell you a bit about the problem of being able to pick strawberries accurately and also others like asparagus. The problem is that for the strawberry harvest it seems that the workers from France come to Spain and the problem is that the borders are closed by the virus, so the farmers cannot collect the quantities that are only in the strawberries. This is a great loss for everyone.
We are already reducing the number of infected and soon the coronavirus pandemic will be history. There are countries in central Europe that no longer have problems.
Her blog is always so beautiful with the wise quotes from the authors, I love them … not forgetting the images.
I wish you a beautiful and happy week.
Dear Dolores, thank you for your kindness. I do hope the pandemic will be history soon, but I am afraid it will be with us for quite some time in our country. I pray for all our health care workers and first responders who put their lives on the line every day.
Meanwhile, it is spring here and we have a glorious blue sky this morning. The peonies are about to burst in all their glory. The birds are singing and the baby bunnies are eating my new delphiniums.
Wishing you a beautiful day and a wonderful week. Blessings, dear one. Stay well.❤