Monday Meditation

It is a quiet and beautiful morning in the Ozarks of SWMO. 
My coffee is good (an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe), the sun is shining, the swallows are feasting on the flying bugs outside of the screened in deck, and Groucho the cat is quietly resting on one of the chairs at our deck dinner table.
I'm sitting on the futon with my Chromebook on my lap and a book by my side. The hummingbirds occasionally pause to look through the screen as if to let me know the feeder is empty and I need to clean and refill it. Several crows are making quite a racket from the treeline and beyond. I don't know if they are angry or just having a good time. I am going to guess they are having fun. The four that seem to always fly together just flew from the treeline, past the house, and then circled back to the field. The golden finch pair (male and female) is flying back and forth from the back flower bed to the roof of the house.

This is how I begin most days. With nowhere that I have to be and nothing that I have to do, I live a pretty stress free life.

I just noticed a small jumping spider on the screen opposite of me. These tiny hunters are pretty cool to watch. I've seen them catch flies and even a small moth. They don't use a web. They patiently hunt down their prey and quickly attack.

Sorry, but I often find nature to be distracting from typing or writing or reading or talking -- you get the idea.

My Monday is looking like it will be a beautiful, people-less kind of day.
I might do a little yard work. I might get a little exercise. I will definitely spend some time reading. And I am always grateful and aware of the privilege I have to live this simple life.

John