The Magic of Birds and Socks

  It has been a crazy week, to say the least! I'd rather not talk about the election and all of that, though. Haven't we heard enough? The amazing thing about this week has been that summer seems to have returned to my part of Michigan and I've been able to enjoy some sunshine, fresh air, and a surprise! 

I was sitting in my living room folding clothes and happened to spot a brightly  colored bird in the hydrangea bush right outside the window. Knowing I'd never seen that type of bird before, I struggled to get my camera activated on my phone! My daughter is an avid bird watcher and I started calling to her to come quickly! I got up slowly and found a whole flock of these beautiful birds streaked with yellow and gray, both male and female, eating the black oil sunflower seeds I had haphazardly scattered from my leftover cup earlier that day when filling the feeder. 

It turns out they were evening grosbeaks, and they rarely visit this area of Michigan, but upon researching, apparently there are a few bird varieties that are making their way around Michigan and they are one of them. Well, whatever the reason, I was blessed by their beauty and their amazing song. If you've never heard the songs of several grosbeaks (not sure if that's the correct pluralization) google it and have a listen. 

I've also been doing some closet and drawer organization after I finally opened up my book, "the life-changing magic of tidying up"-the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing, by Marie Kondo. (all in lower caps, in case you were wondering) Okay, so I realized I have a lot of socks. But I now have a delightfully organized sock drawer and the rest of my dresser could pass military standards! I'm working on my closet and discovered it's been awhile since I've worn a lot of my clothes. Hello, Pandemic problems. I live in joggers and other comfy options.  The book is interesting, though I won't be taking all of Marie Kondo's advice. It's a bit extreme, though helpful in some ways. I will not be talking to my clothes any time soon, though I'm sure they may enjoy it if I do. 

I have a written plan for the basement next, and oh goodness will I ever need a lot of time and patience, but mostly a lot of pain-free days. That's another issue. I hit another IC flare a few weeks ago and I've had roughly 2 days of halfway decent health in order to accomplish these tasks. I use the Amigo my father-in-law gave me so I can enjoy our property a bit more, but I mostly want to get back into my walking and exercising! Who knew a little thing like a bladder could dominate so much of your life? People with bigger handicaps can do so much more than me, but this is why it is even more important not to compare and judge others with physical handicaps and chronic illnesses. We see those beautiful smiles and outsides and make a lot of assumptions. But we don't know how hard it was to get there, do we? 

That's probably what has been on my mind the most lately. We sure don't know what is behind someone's smile, just like we don't know the chaos behind closed basement doors, crammed dresser drawers, and cluttered unhappy hearts with big warm hugs. Life is kind of a walking contradiction at times, where we want to be who we are, but if we admit it, someone is sure to judge us. But if we aren't who we really are, someone will judge that too. Thank God we have Someone who loves us for who we are inside and out. God knows all of our heart, all of our mind, all of our feelings and everything our eyes say. He will never leave us hanging and never make us wonder if He is really there for us. Praise God. 

Blessings to you as you enter the weekend or the week, wherever you find yourself and know that you have Someone on your side rooting for you.