Spring morning - At last...Will it last?

This morning is starting off with the look and feel of that rare but perfect spring day on the SE Texas coast. The air is damp and heavy with a low fog laying in the field behind the house. Te sky is clear from the front we had through yesterday. But best of all for a day or two at least we are waking up with the temperature in what a few years ago at least would be seasonable, 52 degrees. The back door is open and the birds are singing the sun up as I sit with my coffee and my emails. The train whistle is sounding as the morning freight moves through town. The sounds of cars moving on the highway bypass as folks make their way to work is already intruding on the birdsong.

It is funny how much of what we do in the morning becomes a routine. The same thing everyday, at the same time, you could almost do it in your sleep. That is the problem, for me at least. If I don't stop and force my mind into what I am doing I lose that whole meditative state that comes with being mindful of even the little things in the morning routine. As I move from bed to bath to kitchen, it is so easy to just go with the flow and not think about what I am doing. In the kitchen though I usually must become more mindful as I put together the breakfast and lunch I take with me to work.

My drive home each day is down many back country roads. When we first moved south into the country these roads were all gravel. In the past 10 years they have all been paved. I tend to get off the highways and follow this winding, changing route hope most days. It really doesn't take any longer though it adds a few miles to the drive. The time factor is probably due to the lack of traffic and stop lights on this route. The reason for this ramble is my first sighting of Scissortailed Flycatcher for the year. I spotted one way back in the farmland in my meander home yesterday evening. These are birds of the summer here and I always look forward to seeing them on the electric lines along the roads.

Another avian resident that I see occasionally all year round is the Kingfisher. They have a habit of sitting on the same lines as the Scissortail, if those lines are above a water filled ditch. I don't recall them being as common in my youth as they appear to be now. But then again, I probably wasn't very observant then...

Routine says (along with the clock on the shelf) that it's time to move...Later.