From the Patio

The last of the gray clouds are fleeting the area. I watch the wind move them to the north. The sun has burned away the last bits of early morning fog.  Saddle Mountain juts up from the earth- it looks cleansed, almost new. Bright blue sky prevails now. The air is crisp, clean, and refreshing. The smoky, hazy skies of the summer months behind us. The sun warms my back, the cool breeze gives me goose bumps. The burning bush are putting on a show.  It seems fall is in the air.

The boys sit next to me while I write and they write too. Crayons and colored pencils, little strips of paper scattered all over the foot of my lounge chair. They bounce back and forth between pedaling trikes on the sidewalk chalk road and drawing sunshines on their papers and being so proud of their work. I marvel at how much goes on when I just sit down and take in the view from the patio.

Gratitude:

 

-A freezer full of delicious grass-fed beef.

 

-Kody yelling from the garden, "Tanner, come here. There's a daddy long legs!!" Tanner saying to me "Gotta go, mom. Kody's calling me for a daddy long legs." He takes off full speed to the garden. I chuckle at the missions of boyhood.

-Having a porta-potty in the garage!

-The bittersweet-ness of weaning Makenna.

 

-Ben's BBQ chicken legs. Sticky, yummy, slightly charred delicious goodness. Probably the kids' favorite meal. Might just be mine too!

 

-Fires in the firepit and the random conversations that take place. Like Tanner's "When I get bigger, I'm gonna be a porcupine and sneak right up and pork ya guys!" Spoken in his best southern country accent.

 

- A walk through the woods, in the rain, just me and Tanner. How he held my hand and told me that he thinks the ponderosas are "just beautiful". 

 

- Harvesting sunflower seeds from the garden. The boys' delight when we finally get to chop one of those beauties down and bust into it to scrape all the seeds out.

 

-A trip to the ocean with family. Hubby who cooks us all out of our cabin because he loves to play with woodstoves. Awesome views. Beach combing, tide-pool exploring, sand-castle building. Rugged beauty where mountains meet beach.

 

-Mother-in-law's doctor's who catch a very invasive type of cancer before it spreads all over.

 

- A huge completely full rainbow. Visible from one end to the other. Awesome.