I’m sitting with my husband and son, content.

It’s a good feeling. I am, at this moment, at peace.

My crazy life has been slowing down. Last September, I resigned from my full time job of almost eleven years. I was commuting around 8 hours a week on top of the 12+ hour days.

After that, I downshifted into an office job, four days a week. I worked this job until mid-June.

Then we decided to let me take some time to heal, and to rest.

It’s doing me a world of good, on every level.

I’ve always been an observant person, but now that I am not racing through life, I am enjoying the observations I am making every day.

Take today as an example. I awoke early this morning to a puppy’s insistence to go outside. As I sat on the log bench watching her saunter around the yard, the morning light had me getting up to investigate. I was delighted to find a beautiful sunrise highlighting the undulating clouds. For a few minutes, I just breathed and took in the cool air, the golden sky, the playful puppy.

Tonight, we watched the local farm team play baseball. I spent as much time watching flags snap in the occasional breeze, the light chop in the bay, and the play of the children around me, and the contrast of manicured grass and the red clay field.

Even in the visit to the drive through restaurant tonight to pick up food for our son, I smiled as I saw sherbet colored trumpet flowers draping down the barrier hedgerow just outside my window. I imagined the delight of hummingbirds finding these fluted blooms.

When I was busy, I noticed things occasionally. Now that I have slowed down, I am grateful for all the small, wonderful things that I can appreciate and enjoy.