Alive and Aware

It was only in the eighties today.......and headed toward low sixties tonight.........low humidity, clear blue skies....
such a reprieve!  Oh, I know it won't last, and that is ok.......at least Mother Nature is letting me know, the heat and humidity of this summer will not last forever.

One of the first things that I notice around mid-August, is how the light begins to change.  We live in a small modified A-frame cottage, so the front is floor to ceiling glass, and the house faces northeast.  Every morning we sit and drink our coffee looking outside as the sun comes up, the light has definitely changed in the past few weeks.   Even on those 100 degree days, there was a coolness  if you will to the morning light, a difference in how the sun streamed through the glass, and how the shadows filtered through the leaves.  This morning as the temps dropped into the sixties, the light seemed more brilliant, and crystalline, a sign of change.

Awareness of our surroundings, do we look at the light and the play of the shadows?  Do we notice the subtle
differences in colors, texture and shapes?  What do we smell, feel, hear?  Is it concrete, something we can really put our hands on, or is it sensation?  Can we fuse it with our memories, or do we let it slide into some
vapor that floats languidly in our brains and then fades to nothingness.  Take a few moments in the morning,
become aware, become alive!  There are constant changes in our lives, do we notice or allow them to
pass silently and miss out on a great thing of beauty or a moment of brilliance?

Smell the coffee, savor the color as well as the taste, the warmth on your tongue and the sensation as it flows down your throat.  In the shower, feel every drop of water, the coolness, the heat, the steam, the bubbles,
the fragrance of the soap, how the skin feels drenched in moisture, let yourself be alive and aware!
And instead of gulping down  what ever food you grab, taste, know that it is nourishment for the body, fuel
to start your day, and be grateful, slow down, chew......give yourself moments to live.  Become aware!

We are all on the fast track, though there are still twenty four hours in a day, we move faster and faster......
is it all that important, that life becomes a blur......and we don't even remember how our food tastes or how good that morning shower felt?  Moments, just take a few, to live, to be aware.
Good night, Sweet dreams.