Life is beautiful

Surfacing slowly, with a growing sense of well-being, I spent a moment of emergent wakefulness enjoying the silken warmth of my sheets. They are exquisite, these sheets, all 1000 thread count of them, and with their sateen finish and years of washing, they are softer than the skin on a baby's bottom. I knew this morning was different, and not just because it is the weekend. My senses were telling me something, and as I opened my awareness to more than a decadent enjoyment of the sheets against my skin, I noticed the birdsong, and the scents, coming from my window.

And then I understood cognitively what my senses had been telling me: the heatwave has broken. Yes!

As much as I love summers here, as much as I love the pristine glow of Mt Hood and Mt St Helens against the clear, impossibly-blue sky, I love Springtime, and I was not ready to relinquish it so soon. A week of 80 and 90 degree weather in May! My heart soared for the first couple of days, but as I watched the flowers wilt and the leaves of the bamboo start to roll up, my heart sunk. Too soon. Too soon to spend the heat of the day bunkered inside shaded cool rooms. Too soon for the quarts of suncreen to protect my pale-pale skin. I relish the cool late-Spring mornings, the air redolent with moisture and scents, the scampering squirrels, and the parade of ducklings.

I slipped out of bed with something near glee. I brewed some micro-roasted coffee and stepped out onto the patio. It had rained overnight. The morning air--oh, how to describe the air!--was so alive with sound and scent. It was moist and cool, making my skin pebble and my nipples tighten. Beads of dew glistened on the bamboo, the maidenhair ferns, and the last of the tulips. My breath caught when I saw them. No longer tired-looking, the last three tulips glistened with diamond dewdrops, their white petals striped with crimson. So vivid. So incredibly beautiful. Without thinking, I put down my cup and went inside for my camera and shears. I took photos of the Last Tulips and then I cut them, and brought them inside, to the dining room. I like them there. They are so beautiful. Yes. What a wonderful way to start the weekend. Life is beautiful.