A wise friend told me that when waiting, enjoy the reminder to slow down. Waiting when? Well, in line at the store, for your grandkids to put their shoes on, or perhaps waiting for rain to soak this season's parching drought.
Maybe, like Steve in Woodlawn, the wait is for the Wood Ducklings to hatch and leap. He sits outside early morning and evening. By his count, any day there will be babies:
The hen was not in the nest this afternoon so I took a peek. Carefully tucked in under a one inch thick "down blanket" are 13 eggs. They were completely concealed. In the past when ducks were dumping eggs they made no effort what so ever to cover them. She has really gone out of her way to keep them warm. My hopes remain high. Can you imagine mama and papa cruising across the pond trailing 13 little ones?
This is the box Steve refers to - it's full of life:
How to ease the wait?
For me, I notice my breath coming in and out. It helps to soften the gaze. Maybe take a nap.
Or maybe like Jeanne does, we look out toward the pond to see what we see. For her, it's an Anhinga drying its wings almost faithfully in the same spot each day.
Or, perhaps like Marc you step out the door to walk and notice the beauty of this extraordinary place we live. Marc takes his camera - lucky for us. His photographs feel like gift glimpses of his slowed gait. He writes, "A honeybee pollinating a Crepe Myrtle tree."
Yesterday at our front door: a Gulf Fritillary emerges as I return home from chores. How lucky am I to witness this?
