From My Front Door

https://www.facebook.com/1377924441/videos/3401300976760164/ ——here’s a video of the goats playing on the boat

Every morning and every evening, I look out my front door to the sun coming up or the sun going down, the rolling hills all around me with the fields whispering in the breeze, my yard softly lit with a few solar lights, our miniature horses munching on prairie grass and goats playing on the boat in the yard. The sounds of the evening include coyotes howling in the distance and goat’s cloven hooves clattering as they jump around on the boat or sneak up on the porch. I may hear the faint sound of cars passing by on the highway below the hillside.

What I don’t hear:

• cars speeding past my house
• tires screeching
• neighbors partying next me
• sirens wailing
• horns bellowing
• stereos thumping

What I don’t see:

• lights flashing all through the night
• constant stream of cars driving by
• people that don’t belong walking through my yard
• kids playing in the street where they shouldn’t be playing
• trash all around me because people just throw it out their windows

I feel, see, hear the peace we are surrounded by these days. No longer are our lives a chaotic mess waiting for the next non-emergency that everyone believes is an emergency. We have slowed down some. Our lives have slowed some. Oh, we go to work and get the kids to and from school. We have chores to do around the house and so on, so forth. But it’s no longer running here and there for Lord knows what. When we go home by supper time, we are home for the evening. The kids can relax and breathe. My hubby and I can relax and breathe. Our evenings consist of:

• chores: feed/water the animals, pick up messes, any homework the girls have, etc
• tinker here and there: each of the bigger people (adults and teens) have something to keep us busy (my boys building their shop, me building a shed, the hubby always has something keeping him busy, etc)
• having supper together: this meal is shared between my family and my in-laws so my mother-in-law prepares and we all clean up afterwards.
• and prep for the morning routine: school day, work day.

And the best thing about it:

We are all So. Much. Happier.

Find your reason to smile & keep smiling
~ Shannon ~