Soft Summer Evenings

This screen porch is the spot for soft, summer evenings. It is shielded from the neighbors by hydrangea, lilac, and blackberry bushes. It's the perfect place to strum the guitar and sing a little tune; or, to practice mindful listening by focusing on one bird call and then another. It reminds me of the summer nights of my Omaha childhood, night breezes orchestrated by crickets and katydids, sitting on a still-warm cement porch stoop. 

It's the perfect place to enjoy a blackberry lime frozen yogurt pop. Made with blackberries that grow on the bushes right outside of this porch. 

There are moments, small and quiet, that are everything. They are moments when my gratefulness hums through my body, when I am acutely aware of being alive in a beautiful place.