I recently read an online article about the physical health benefits we can
enjoy by doing something as simple as opening a window.
In the last few weeks, I’ve been opening windows in our
house here and there. Thursday night I
came home, slid open the sliding glass door, and left it open until I went to
bed. While I can’t say there are actual
physical benefits to doing so, I can definitely say I’ve been enjoying the refreshment
it brings me mentally; especially in the morning.
There is nothing I love more this time of year than when the
cardinals in our neighborhood start singing.
We have one Cardinal who sits in a small tree in our backyard
every morning without fail: singing and singing. He’s the brightest color of red and his volume amazes me. How can a creature so small sing loud enough
for me to hear from inside our closed up house? I often
find myself standing on the back deck to listen while drinking my morning cup
of coffee.
What a cliché thing to do, a
true Folgers commercial.
No matter how much I enjoy the winter season, there’s
something about spring that acts as a natural anti-depressant, an instant
motivator. Getting up in the morning to
run becomes easier, planning this years’ vegetable garden starts, I even found
myself dragging a yoga mat onto our back deck (to the one spot without snow)
for a short morning practice.
The last few days I’ve heard some other birds starting to
join in the chorus. I’ll stand at the
kitchen window looking into the backyard, watching them flying from tree to tree,
stopping to rest on our old gazebo, sometimes hanging out on a section of dried
trumpet vine from the previous year.
I haven’t spotted my first Robin of the year, but I can hear
them out there. Technically, the beginning
of the calendar year is January, but the beginning of my year is Spring. There is no specific date. I leave that up to
the Cardinal
in my backyard.
