It’s Sunday morning and the sun is shining, for now, and it’s the last Sunday in June.

We’ve had rain the last couple of days and the lawn, and the garden are rebounding.

Yesterday morning I watched the fog lifting and walked outside to take a photo from the end of the dock – yesterday’s days of summer Instagram post and I discovered a couple of spider webs which had been spun overnight. It reminded me of the story of Charlotte in E.B. White’s classic story, Charlotte’s Web.

Saturday morning spider web, spun overnight

Sunday morning spider – spinning int he wind

Earlier this morning Fern and I stepped outside between showers, and I discovered an exceptionally large spider.

I’ve been watching the birds – especially the blue jays – as they visit the feeders. I’ll see a flash or shadow and look up to see a blue jay the deck either railing, the ledge, or the arm of one of the deck chairs before it hops to the seed feeder.

Yesterday morning Fern and I ran into a neighbor during our morning walk. She remarked that she enjoyed watching the hummingbirds at the from her front window. I asked about the gourd she has hanging along the shoreline. She remarked that it was a bird house put up many years ago by her husband’s aunt.

I shared that I had been watching the birds – purple martins – visiting the bird house and then swooping out over the lake in search of insects to return to the bird house. These birds are very protective of their territory, and I had watched as one of the birds had buzzed one of the dogs in the yard as well as other passing birds.

We laughed and she told me that her husband’s aunt had kept of a journal of the birds she had seen along the lake. That sounded very much like her. She died several years ago and passed her lake cottage along to her nephew and her nephew’s children.

I suppose that is the true silver lining of this pandemic. That I have become more aware of the world around me. The birds, the insects, and the environment around me. I am not alone, there has been an increase of people watching birds.

I recall reading this and I thought I had tweeted it, but didn’t. Interesting read with which I can identify. The Birds Are Outside https://t.co/MOX2iu75vN #pandemicbirding #birding #nature

— Clay Watkins (@makingdayscount) June 27, 2021

And that is the point this morning. There is a silver lining, and it is that the last sixteen months have mattered. I’ve learned things I wouldn’t have otherwise wouldn’t have …the pandemic forced me to be more present and slow down and to think beyond me.

It’s Day 19 of my summer break, it’s almost the halfway point of 2021 and I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, paying attention, looking around, and being present.

Is there a silver lining in the pandemic for you? What is it?