Three things for a mid-June Sunday morning

It’s day five of my summer break. I am sitting in my ‘summer office’ enjoying the start of a Sunday morning. My summer officially began Tuesday around noon with my wife’s comment to me and all within earshot as I walked in through the garage door into our home,

“You’re home so soon?” she said.

And so began 68 days of summer break.

My student’s final day was Friday, June 4th and they left the building at one and I left a couple of hours later at three. I had grades to finalize and things to put away and I knew that the coming weekend (last weekend) would be busy preparing for our daughter’s high school graduation celebration on Saturday afternoon, so I stayed and worked.

The end of the school year is packed with memories of the school year and previous final days.  This year was my 22nd as an educator and I was listening a “Today is going to be a great day” by Bowling for Soup. In a normal year, I would have spent time with my students signing yearbooks, but we all know the fifteen months have not been normal, instead I repeatedly listened to the chorus of the song,

This could possibility be the best day ever!
(This could possibility be the best day ever,)
And the forecast says that tomorrow will likely be a million and six times better.
So make every minute count, jump up, jump in, and seize the day,
And let’s make sure that in every single possible way,
Today is gonna be a great day!

I drifted back in time to the end of school year eleven and the beginning of Making the Days Count dot org. That was when I began blogging. The goal was to write daily, and I came close but missed a few days here and there. In reflection I should missed a few more!

Sunday morning, after the party.

This summer, I don’t plan to write daily, I don’t have the time, or I am not willing to set aside the time to write daily. I am not sure which describes my situation, but that’s where I am. I have blogger friends who blog daily and some who blog who once a week like clockwork.  I enjoy reading their posts and finding out what’s going on in their lives and when I can, I leave a comment.

For the moment here are my three things, Making a Difference
I think in threes – I not sure where it began, but I can thank Mr. Sherman Wright, my junior English teacher, with introducing me to the importance of threes. We were reading The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. Our class was reading and discussing the symbolism in the novel. I had no idea – I thought novels told a story, but I learned a great deal from him that year, much more than I realized at the time. In my senior year, I would occasionally stop by his classroom to say hello or have quick conversation before moving on to my next class. After graduating, I lost contact with him. Several years ago, I searched for him and learned he had passed away. He taught me more than English and I am forever in gratitude for what he taught me about learning and about being a better human being. I think he knew the difference he made for me, but I never told him. I try to be more like him with my own students.

Backyard Birds
Summertime always provides more time to be present and engaged in my backyard. I started paying attention to birds three summers ago after reading inspired a British blogger – From Pyrenees to Pennines. This past week, I’ve been able to enjoy the waking of the world listening to the bird calls and song early in the morning and throughout the day. I also have more time to sit and watch our feeders. I’ve seen a chickadees, sparrows, house finches, cardinals, and of course, robins among the many birds at the seed feeders. A0nd at the hummingbird feeders I’ve seen two species: a ruby-throated hummingbird and a black-chinned hummingbird. I added the seed feeders last fall as did our neighbors. I’ve enjoyed watching them throughout the pandemic and have learned that I wasn’t alone in my discovery of nature.

backyard birding – my newest hummingbird feeder

Summer 2021 Challenge
Eleven summers ago, I challenged myself to blog every day, I fell short. This summer I plan to post a photo daily to my Instagram @MakingtheDaysCount with one way the day counted. My quest began with Day 0 – which was also my W^2 – fetch post this past week. The Instagram feed is visible on right hand side of the blog. There are so many ways to make the day count – I have 68 days this summer and I am on Day 5. I’ll follow up weekly with a montage of the past week’s photos inspired by another blogger at Photography Journal Blog: Volume 2.

So that’s my three things: Making a Difference, Backyard Birds, And my Summer 2021 Challenge.

Another blogger I follow uses Hemmingway’s idea of six-word stories on his blog, I find these challenging, so I’ll stick to three things for Saturday or Sunday.

Gonna blog daily when I can.

My Sunday morning has morphed into Sunday afternoon, but I suppose for the time being it is Sunday morning at least for a few more hours somewhere east of the International Date Line so I had better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Today is gonna be a great day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, with three things in mind.

What three things have caught your interest of late?

3 thoughts on “Three things for a mid-June Sunday morning

    1. Looks like you have been busy with your photography. I hope both Katie and your husband got to come along on your camping adventure to the Mighty Mac! I sat outside at the ‘summer office’ for the better part a couple of hours yesterday and there was constant traffic at the seed feeder and both hummingbird feeders. Thanks for stopping in and keep enjoying the late spring and early summer. Peace.

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