It’s 6:30 am and all is quiet.
I’m back in the place that brings me the most peace: my back porch swing. I sit here at other times of the year and find rest but there is something magical about being here early in the morning, coffee in hand, with the knowledge that the school year is behind me and summer break is spread out before me.
All of creation in this little backyard kingdom seems to feel it too.
The birds call to each other: “Do you know what today is? Do you see that the trees are just a little more green and that the june bugs are just a little more tasty today?”
The highest branches in the cottonwood and pecan trees shake with joy in the early morning breeze. The whisper of their rustling leaves reaches me and says, “Here it is. You’ve waited so long. Drink it in. Better yet, let’s take a drink together and give thanks.”
The rabbits that have multiplied over spring quietly come out of their hiding spots to nibble grass. They stare me down with one shiny eye while they munch. The tapping of their feet and wriggling of their noses and whiskers is code for, “Hurry up! It’s time to slow down. Let us teach you.”
The clouds cover the sun and blanket my holy space in a dim light. They bring a promise of relief from a future blazing sun. Weeks from now when I feel as if we are all baking in an oven and I don’t know if I can take many more days, I will be reminded by the clouds that it is not always going to be unbearable. Deep in the heat of summer I may wonder if I will ever feel a cool breeze again or if a drop of rain will ever again quench the parched ground. The future me will try and remember these early summer days and look forward to early autumn days.
But right now the trees, clouds, and birds remind me that all is well and all will be well.
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