Moments 737: Spring is coming....I can FEEEEEEL it

There are days when you wake it's challenging to get out of bed.  You REALLY don't want to.  Maybe the day's challenges seem overwhelming, or it's simply a drab-grey day that warrants a "pull-the-covers-over-your-head" moment.

Of course, most of us don't have the luxury of heeding the desire to stay in bed.  This morning proved to be one of those days for me.  It's a grey day and I didn't get much sleep last night with my mind racing through many (MANY) variables in my life.  When I finally did succumb to sleep, it was not the good deep sleep that a gal needs.

So yes, it was hard to get out of bed this morning for me.

And then, as the sunlight grew in intensity, I could hear the faintest chirp.  It was solo, but it was a welcome sound.  I listened for some time, as the single chirp was joined by others.  A smile crept to my tired face.  Yes, that is a sound I love dearly, the morning choir of birds praising the start of a new day.  Given that there are fewer birds in the winter, it's always a welcomed moment when the choir of birds return.

Today was that day.

As I lay there in bed a moment longer than I should have, I let myself be enveloped by the sounds of chirping birds.  Sometimes it still surprises me what can inspire a moment of calm in my often chaotic world.

Moments enjoying the sound of spring arriving.
Moment knowing that I still have the ability to pause and appreciate!

Moments D680: Snow birds

Today I woke to the sound of birds chirping.  What a delight!  It's one of my most favourite ways to wake up.  It's a sign that spring is just around the corner.  Spring, my favourite time of year as the world around me begins to slowly come to life again.

And then, I realized, it was snowing outside.  I giggled to myself, knowing that others, most in fact, would be grumbling about it.

They were big fluffy snowflakes.  Very pretty.

Grumble, grumble.  All day.  But not me.  When I finally had an opportunity to get outside and into the fluffy snowflakes, I stomped my way through the fluffy snow on the ground and watched it float around my boots....and smiled.....and did it again.

I like the pretty fluffy snow.  I know that spring is around the corner.  The sun is higher in the sky, the birds wake me in the morning, and when I leave work at night, the sky is no longer dark.  It's coming and I am patient.  No, that's not even true.  I'm actually enjoying the last moments of our beautiful winter, no patience needed!

Moments enjoying the tease of spring.

Moments enjoying the last of winter.

Moments D614: Birds on a Wire

This morning was our last on the ship.  Our week of fun in the Caribbean had come to a close.

We rose early and had our final breakfast with Mom & Dad.  And before we all knew it, our time was up and we headed in separate directions.  Mom and Dad home to Canada, EQ & I off to spend the night in Miami.

At least that was the plan.  Until we realized that finding a hotel might be a bit more challenging that we had expected it to be.  What we thought would be an easy last minute find, turned out to be an Orange Bowl headache. We actually spent the rest of the morning looking for a hotel room.  We stayed on the ship for as long as we could, but that wasn't long enough to search out a hotel room.   Miami was sold out of hotel rooms and those left available were outrageously priced.

And so, we had to be flexible.  We looked into changing our flight to fly out today.  That turned out to be as expensive as the remaining hotel rooms in the city.  It's a busy time of year for travellers.  Strike one.

We thought we struck lucky when we booked a 5-star hotel on one of those discount sites.  Then the first email from the broker site informed us that we would have to wait 24-hours for an actual reservation code.  Well.  That was helpful.  An hour plus later and a phone call to the broker and hotel booked reveals that there is no availability.  The hotel is overbooked.  Strike two.

EQ complained that travelling with me wasn't the same as travelling without me.  Well duh, I suppose it isn't, but I'm no fancy princess. I can roll with it.  I actually figured we might end up sleeping at the airport at this point!

Then I started looking a little deeper into the folds of possibilities.  Motels.  Honestly, they are really a hit or miss thing.  Sometimes I've been lucky and found a gem.  Other times it was a complete dive.  Unfortunately (or in our case fortunately!) not all of them are online with websites and/or listed on the big broker sites which means they don't get the traffic of the bigger hotels.  I figured it was worth calling a few.

And so we did.  After a lot of apologetic conversations about being booked for the past two months due to the Orange Bowl, we struck gold with a motel very close to little Havana.

It was a stressful morning and afternoon as we fought through the piles (and piles!) of non-available conversations.  Arriving at the motel was a relief.  EQ called it a "hooker-hotel".  It really wasn't too far off that, but at least it was clean and close to the airport.  From my perspective it was quaint, and obviously not a high class place.  It was also outrageously priced for what they offered, but it under the circumstances, it was a room and a bed for the night. It would certainly do the trick.

And then it rained.  It poured actually.  I spent the afternoon in this hooker hotel catching up on emails as EQ took a calming bath.  It was good to catch up and reconnect with my world back home.  It was strange to be disconnected for a week.

And then it was time for our dinner date with EQ's business partner; he offered to take us out for dinner.  It was my first time meeting EQ's business partner.  What an incredible soul!  Not that I'm surprised, knowing that EQ respects and trusts him without falter.

Phew - all this to bring you around to today's moment.  It felt necessary to share the high stress of today because today's moment presented the exact opposite of the rest of the day.  The moment happened when EQ & I were on our way to dinner with his business partner who lives in the area.   I sat in the back seat of the car so that EQ and his partner could catch up - it's been months since they last saw one another.  It allowed me to be more focused on the surroundings flying past as I partially listened to their conversation.

The rains had stopped and the clouds had parted.  It was dusk as we drove into little Havana to the well known Cuban restaurant for dinner.  And there they were:




Tons and tons of black birds sitting on the wires above the street happily chirping and enjoying the last of the day, fresh from the rain.  I enjoyed their song for the fleeting moment that I was beneath them.

I smiled and enjoyed this passing moment.  As we drove on, I reflected back over our stressful day and how we conquered it. (maybe not in style, but we conquered none-the-less!) Now with the rain behind us, we were out celebrating with a delightful tour of the area and were about to feed ourselves with delightful local Cuban flavours.  I found myself greatly enjoying those last moments of our day, much like those black birds sitting and singing high above the street.

Given our roller coaster day, I was reminded that storms will come and go and when they do pass, life around dries and the birds come to sing once again.  Much like life.  Storms in life will pass and when they do and things settle down, those around you sing once again.  My heart was singing once again.

I love when that happens.

Moments pushing through the stressful moments of life.

Moments celebrating the song around you.

Moments D196: Bird Man

Today’s smiling moment came early as I drove to work.

On my way to work there is a house that is often covered in perched pigeons on its roof. I never understood why. The houses adjacent to this home have a few misplaced birds, and the houses beyond those neighbouring the “bird house” don’t have any pigeons perched upon their rooves. It was always perplexing to me. Why pigeons upon that one house?

Well, today the answer was revealed. As I slowed for the red street light ahead, I watched in wonder as the pigeons suddenly started to flock to this house. As I crept closer in the stopped traffic, I realized why.

There, from the second floor window, was a bare-breasted man leaning out into the cold morning with a small white bucket. From this bucket he was tossing seed to the roof in front of him. The birds swarmed and swooped and filled every inch of the roof of his home. This was a man who was happy to be feeding the birds. He had a huge smile upon his face as he watched them dance around him. This was not a man worried about what kind of damage the birds might do to his home (or to his neighbours’ homes). This was a man in the moment enjoying the moment with the pigeons.

And I, from afar, enjoyed watching him and his birds. He is now officially dubbed “Bird Man” in my world. And I know that every day that I pass his home from this day forward, I will smile.

Thank you Bird Man for this moment.

Moments D179: Birds Above

Today was a great day and I spent a few hours in one of my favourite places in Niagara Falls -The Butterfly Conservatory. It was amazing to sit and just enjoy them fluttering about us. Beautiful. So much that I’ll share a picture.






But, that wasn’t the biggest moment I had today. That came when I was driving home. I had my sunroof open as it was warmer and sunny and these types of days will be fewer and farther between as the fall days roll into winter. I was enjoying the cool breeze.

As I stopped for a red light I noticed that there were birds directly above my head on a wire singing their beautiful song. That was the smile of the day. Birds chirping and twittering above my head on a busy 4 lane street. So cool.

Moments with nature.

Moments to smile.

Moments D122: Sparrows

Today I had a delightful lunch with one of my best friends. It was absolutely delightful. He introduced me to a delicious new beer. The Stiegel Radler. Unfortunately our beer stores only sell it by the Keg. Hmmm. An excuse for an end of the summer party? Perhaps. Perhaps indeed!

And while the stories shared over lunch and the delightful plates of heaven at “le petit dejeuner” where moments in their own right, today’s unexpected smile comes from something a little less expected.

As I was walking from the parking lot back to my office on this hot summer afternoon, I walked through a flock of sparrows. They must have been young as they were smaller than normal. Small enough for me to notice their size. Small enough to make me smile as they flittered away from me.

The silly little birds. You’d think the flock of 10-12 sparrows would have flown away from the direction I was walking. But no. Instead, the group of them flew a few inches away from me and as I approached a second time, there was a flurry of wings and chirps, like I was doing this on purpose to them - stirring up their perch in the sun. They repeated this foolishness a third time and I shook my head. It wasn’t until the fourth time this happened that I giggled and said aloud to them “silly birds, I’m not chasing you!”. And then, something magical happened. As I approached them for a fifth time, quite near to the office doors, they didn’t flitter away. Instead, they stayed on the fence and a nearby bike and watched me pass by them.

And I smiled. I smiled all the way up two flights of stairs thinking about those silly sparrows.

Today’s moment. Silly sparrows flying all around me, but not away from me. The moment where they paused to wait for me to walk past them.

It was a moment to enjoy another creature. And a moment to dream of flying with them one day, instead of walking through their flutter.