As the sunflower blooms….

In the backyard, I was reminded that it has been long time since I posted sharing my garden. It seems like summer and the blog are years ago, but really only a month. A lot has happened in a month with the start of school and getting out of COVID quarantine. My daughter went back to college. I will miss her so, but her time here during the roughest part of my diagnosis was a blessing. Our middle one is looking at colleges and our youngest still puts up with me watching shows together that make us laugh. A celebration of 22 years of marriage was blessed and my school welcomed me back with open arms just the way I am. What a month indeed!

Since it has been so long since I wrote, I thought I would get back into my blog with an update and hopefully the strength to continue this pursuit. It does relax me to write, garden, play farmer and share a story that many hold deep inside of a challenge out of our control. Going back into society and the classroom was scary. I loved the safety of my family and home built like a sanctuary to hide from the world that continues to seem so overwhelming with each breathe. At school, I was blessed that my fellow teachers pulled me right back in and my students welcomed me with genuine smiles on their faces when they saw me as it was the first time in person since Halloween 2020.

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I’ve learned a lot in these 4 weeks back at work. How fast the rat race can pull you back in. I made a promise to myself to focus on the present day not rushing through classes, enjoying laughs with my students, conversations with my colleagues and hugs from the cheer team. I have a plan book and calendar that shows the days ahead but today’s business is all I can handle. Tomorrow has too many challenges itself whether another blood test, scan or doctor’s appointment that could change the present moment. We can’t control any of those moments so I practice being present in the moment whether I laugh on the way home listening to a book with my son or a long call from my daughter to hear about her day. Don’t rush the days as the world already rushes them for you, I remind myself. I try and share this with my students as we work together and help one another . The looming threat of a quarantine or the school putting us online seems to never end and we take one day at time.

In that spirit, I am allowing myself time to be in the backyard. Meadow has been by my side giving me licks and love every moment that I am home. Lego our older golden tore his ACL so he had knee surgery. It has been some crazy weeks. Talullah’s fur has become softer than soft and is always around for her treats. Lastly, the girls. The ones that I say I will hang out with them the next day but either I am exhausted or it is too hot and buggy. They have waited patiently. They love when I come to feed them and clean the coop. For this weekend, I told myself to give them a moment of my time.

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So after I cleaned the coop and fed them, I decided a field trip was a good idea. We all gathered up by the back fence of the chicken area that led to our backyard. Their coop sits on the side of our house. They always follow my voice to “Girls” and so off we went with a call and an opening of the gate to a new world to explore. They enjoyed the run of the bigger space and the bugs that were about. As I watched them scamper about, it almost seemed liked they smiled. They were living for that moment not knowing how long that the trip would last but enjoyed every second until they went back to the coop.

As I have said before, live your life like a puppy. It is also important to listen to the girls. Waking up in the morning, they chatter away saying hello to the world. They are on the go once the sun opens the coop door. The field trip was a break just as we should wake up each day and enjoy each moment not worrying about the sun going down shutting the door for the night. We cannot control much, but we have it in our control to embrace life living one breath at a time. Whether facing chronic disease like me or work struggles, money challenges, social injustice, or even a bad day, we have the ability to stop and be in the moment. Let the chickens roam free and snuggle with a puppy as life is full of opportunities for smiles if we slow down enough to realize that the greatest moments are the small ones right in front of you.