A Week of a Puppy, a Cat, Birds, Gardening and Feeling Present

It's been a hectic week and each day I discovered more about myself with the help of a little puppy. Just like having an infant around, having a puppy changes your routine or makes you realize you lack a real routine.

I've had a problem with not feeling present and having this puppy who depends on me for walks and snuggles up to me with every waking moment, it's hard not to be present. This morning I listened to a mockingbird sharing its songs and sat on the ground with the smell of some early spring flowers.

I am on a great cross road, I have worked for the last 28 years with little interruption and now I am in between jobs or careers or just in between. My son who has been such a major center of all my activity is starting to find his own way.

I feel like I'm in a forest, waiting for light or a sign and the anxiety I feel is God's way of asking, do you trust me? This little dog comes to remind me that it's the little things that matter; a walk,  a bathroom break, the spectacle of a leaf on the lawn.

I've smelled beautiful fragrant flowers I might not have noticed, I've listened to birds and watched them hop around the lawn and I feel aware and alive. There are still goals to work through, still hills to climb but for the moment I am content watching this puppy explore his world.

The garden is growing in, last years' zinnias and assorted milkweed plants are crowding each other seeking dominance. I am the equalizer, I tame the weeds, thin out the herd and stake the vines and the lillis that are popping up everywhere.

This year is the first year I plan on keeping an ordered garden. I want people to see it and be impressed as much as the wildlife likes the chaos, people tend to see a forest.

In the midst of all of this in-between, I am find myself and starting to forge a routine I probably never had before. Tomorrow I plan on walking the puppy early in the morning and letting him use up all his stores of energy, still going to the gym, still keeping closer to God, so much to think of and it's  a lot easier if you are present.