A Sunny Day Moment in Winter's Lair

Morning coffee raises my body temperature while I dress and get ready. So the reality of cold doesn't settle in until I step out for the day.

But I can already tell an outside chill has returned. I noticed it in the middle of the night when I got up to potty. Anxious for warmth, I dove back under my covers. 

Earlier this week, however, spring visited. For just a few days. But the reminder of almost seventy degree temps gave me a boost till the daffodils peak through the ground. 

After teaching two voice lessons on the unseasonably warm day, I stopped by the grocery store. Bags of bird seed filled boxes by the entrance. Thankful for the reminder, I tossed one in my cart.

For years I assumed a bird feeder outside our kitchen window didn't work. When something nudged me to try it again last fall, I realized my error. Soon birds lingered on its perches, taking turns for their fill. But we ran out of birdseed and I'd forgotten to buy some for months. 

Once home, I rode up and down my stair chair till all the groceries  were spread on my kitchen floor. Then I headed out to feed the birds. The metal bird feeder lid slid off easily and I filled it to the top. When I was done, I slid the lid back in place, lifted the handle, and started towards the hook screwed into the ceiling.

Halfway to the railing, however, the long bottom container slipped out from the lid and landed with a thunk on the porch. Bird seed flew all over.

It took a minute, but I finally realized the contraption wasn't broken. I hadn't attached the lid correctly, leaving it loose from the container. No wonder it fell.

I found my small, pink plastic broom and dust pan and tried to clean the mess. Some of the seed went back into the feeder while a good heaping fell through the porch planks - leaving me curious what will grow underneath this spring.

I reattached the lid and hung it high on the metal hook. Then I sat down in defeat, with my back against a window and my feet propped on a railing only a few feet away. 

Sprawled across the porch, I closed my eyes and basked in the warm afternoon sun. For a moment, it was spring. Not winter. A perfect temp with no bugs. And the birds were fed.

I couldn't stay outside for long. But I lingered enough to relish the quiet calm that filled me. The unexpected spill forced surrender. And I was settled in the warmth of God's Son.

As my two hours of voice lessons came to a close this morning, Sue, Judy, and I sang through a song from their choir repertoire one last time. It's a favorite of mine from long ago. We sang it more than once in our church choir when I was in high school.

It doesn't last much longer than the five minutes I spent loitering on our porch. But the emotions that stir are very similar to what I felt as my body soaked in the outside beauty earlier this week:

"Oh Lord my God, the majesty and glory of your name, transcends the earth and fills the heavens..." (Fettke)
 




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