Don't forget to smile today!

EVERYDAY ... is a GOOD day.

“A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day.  

A string of such moments can change the course of your life.” 

~ Christopher K. Germer

I want to bottle some of my mornings.  They are just TOO magical!

It’s a public holiday here in NZ so the roads were quieter than usual as we left on our ramble this morning.  NO mamils, NO busses, NO chattering mynah birds (the human kind) and a Sun that was only just making itself visible in our skies.

The hound was on a go-slow too.  Maybe she was revelling in the peace and serenity.  

Her nose worked overtime as she read all the p-mails and left appropriate replies.  

Nothing passed her notice.

I treasure mornings like this.

There’s a stillness to them that’s palpable and I’m sure the hound feels it too. 

They rejuvenate and energise me.  

Would that I could share that feeling with the world.  

As I sought out the noisy Rosella for a photo shoot, a Tui flitted onto a shrub in front of me.  He did what he needed to do as the lens pointed in his direction.  He certainly wasn’t oblivious to my presence but he wasn’t fearful of it either.  He seems to know that the girl with the green backpack isn’t a  threat to him.

I left without pictures of the Rosella but some awesome ones of the Tui.

Early mornings like this are more than magical.  Our weather changes so rapidly that often the best part of the day is over before many people even stumble out of bed.

He's looking at me as I'm looking at him.

Sleeping in ISN’T an option.  Not when you live in such a magnificent and scenic spot.

It wasn’t only the Tui that posed so beautifully for the lens.  I went looking in the rock pools for Kingfishers but came back with a Heron.  When it’s low tide he breakfasts on the beach and NOT in my friend Julie’s fish pond.

She’ll be pleased to know that.

My time on the beach is over far too soon on mornings like this though.  I could spend hours clambering through the rock pools and tip-toeing through the waves but duty calls. It’s Monday and, public holiday or not, I need to get to work.

And to whoever is reading my missives today,

DON'T forget to SMILE!

This seagull performing his morning ablutions made me smile!