I woke up in a great mood completely unlike yesterday. Nothing dramatic happened between yesterday and this morning so I wonder why such a drastic mood change. Again, I will blame it on the COVID-19. It was sunny but rain was predicted in the afternoon, just like yesterday, so after I meditated I put some sunscreen on and ventured outside with short sleeves since it was 60 degrees. The minute I came out of my building I saw bright colorful tulips, and I immediately felt happier and much lighter in spirit than yesterday. When I got toward Millennium Park I saw a worker mowing the grass and the smell of it really made me smile inside. I thought of my dad growing up when he would mow the lawn so early on Saturday mornings that I would wake up and be kind of mad at him. I would love the treasure of that experience again as he is long gone.
After three miles I stopped although I wanted to run longer, and I wondered how I ran six miles ten days prior. But the sunshine was such a welcome pleasure to just slow down and walk on the grass. I am finding it odd these past few weeks of isolation that I’m taking pleasure in the sound of birds, walking on the grass, and noticing four leaf clovers. Who am I? I saw a patch of dandelions so bright and colorful that it seemed strange to me that they are considered weeds instead of pretty little flowers. I noticed a woman running and then stopping abuptly to command her dog to sit, and then I realized she took a picture of her dog against the numerous dandelions. Then I thought that if I had a dog while running I would have done the same thing, too, because the patches of bright yellows against the green grass under the sunlight could have been almost passed for a painting.
As I walked the rest of the way home in the warm sun I saw lots of tulips and daffodils with groundskeepers tending to the lawns around Chicago. The smell of fresh cut grass and even seeing a bee visiting a flower was joyful to witness. I heard children’s voices of enthusiasm, and for those moments while walking in the sunshine nothing seemed wrong at all with the world except when someone passed by with a mask on. Ah, yes, the reminder that the world is in crisis along with the future being unknown. Today is the 45th day of my isolation but with the company of Mother Nature I didn’t feel lonely at all. And thankfully, there were far too many reasons to be grateful today than I could count.
