The Baby Tufted Titmouse That Could. And, It Did.

Lisa took a couple of vacation days last week. Yep. A 4 day weekend. Early Thursday morning she ventured out to do grocery shopping. After we put the groceries away, she relaxed for a bit before heading outdoors to mow the lawn and add more flowers to our front yard. While she tackled outdoor work, I prepped a gourmet meal and dessert for Carol's visit the following day. 

We had a wonderful time when Carol was here. She loved our home and shared some good news with us. As always, our visit ended much too quickly. We packed her a box of scrumptious leftovers and promised to start planning another visit in the very near future.

We spent the rest of Lisa's 4 day weekend working on indoor and outdoor projects at our own pace. It was blissful. 

Yesterday, I spent a few hours online pounding away at Work at Home Dog Mom stuff. A portion of that time was spent scanning my social media feeds. 

Big mistake. 

There is so much shit happening in our immediate world right now and it's not just the COVID-19 pandemic.

Violent protests. Riots. Looting. Police officers are being attacked and some of those attacks have been fatal. Local businesses going out of business. Cities and towns looking like a war zone because of the riots. Companies changing logos and names and product marketing. Innocent people being victimized. Hate. So much hate. War memorials are being defaced. Statues are being ripped down. 

The list goes on...

On the COVID-19 end of things, Florida and Texas are now epicenters for the virus because beaches and bars opened up. The numbers are rising. More states are being added to that list. There is talk about strict travel restrictions to CT, NY, and NJ from these epicenter states. 

Again, the list goes on...

After dinner last night, Lisa and I sat out on our back porch. I was venting about the posts and videos and photos I had seen. 

Lisa spends very little time online, especially Facebook. She listened as she always does, but she didn't get riled up like I was.

I was seriously on the verge of tears seconds before she got up slowly and walked to the far end of the back porch.

"Look!!!"

I got up. 

A week after we bought our house and moved in back in February, we hung a decorative birdhouse that Lisa and I made last year on the cherry tree very close to the back porch.

A Tufted Titmouse couple took interest and eventually occupied it. 

They've since had babies.

One of the babies had peeked out. It was looking all around. Observing the world outside the safety of the birdhouse. 

Lisa took photos. 

We stood there and watched.

The baby stepped out onto the perch and took its first flight.

We stood there in awe. 

After I tucked Lisa and the kids into bed, I stayed up for a while. I thought about that single moment. That simple distraction.

Although Lisa listened to me vent about what I had seen on my social media streams earlier in the day, her intent was to quiet the outside world for me. Focus on this. Not that. 

By focusing on this, as in OUR home, OUR yard, the beauty that we've already created since moving into OUR house back in February...

It created the distraction I needed. 

It was Lisa's way of saying, "You have a lot of work to do online. Do that. Stay focused on what you know to be true. Stay focused on what you need to do. If you get distracted, sit on the back porch. Or walk through OUR home a few times."

I knew exactly what she meant. 

Often times, I have found myself sitting on the back porch exhaling and in awe. Or, pacing through our home observing our kids completely relaxed and happy and content because it's quiet and there is no intentional distractions from outside sources.

There are so many people who are convinced that things are going to get better whether it's with the riots and looting or the hate between this group or that group subsiding. Or, the COVID-19 pandemic is going to magically disappear. 

Personally, I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. 

I hope I am wrong. 

I don't have the answers. 

Neither do you. 

What I do know is that there is no going back to the world we once knew. 

The world is changing. 

However. 

We all have choices. 

I am not responsible for people's behavior. 

I am only responsible for how I respond to it.