my gift

we've been experiencing some crazy weather here. i have a feeling many of you have been too.
last week was wet and rainy. yesterday was blustery and it snowed (well, more like flurried since none of it stuck - but it tried. it really, really tried!)! then, today was sunny and it warmed up perfectly by the afternoon. it was one of those days that when it finally did heat up later in the day, it was warmer outside than it was in my house. i had to open the back door to let the warm in. i didn't want to open it too much though because we under a cloud of yellow green pollen and i would rather skip dusting that off everything in my house. that's the worst part of spring in the south. i want to open the windows and the doors wide, but then we are all gagging on the pollen dust we are constantly inhaling. yech!

today was a great day for gently pushing henry out the back door (so happy we have a big fenced in yard) and letting him explore, while i got some baking and kitchen cleaning done. but, i ended up not getting much cleaned up because i was enjoying watching him play - unnoticed for the most part. i pointed out a pile of rocks and said he should look for some lizards. he spent a good half hour overturning rocks and looking at bugs (unfortunately when he came to get me to take a look i realized they were termites. YIKES!). no lizards were found though. i guess the rocks weren't warm enough today.
i watched him talking to himself and exploring parts of our yard, which at this time of year is it's own wilderness. he likes to go down his slide and get up running and race to the opposite of the yard. he will call out to me to watch how fast he is. and he is fast in that little boy style of running with his arms still hanging by his side (and head always watching his feet-he must like to see how fast he is too). i watch him through the window over the sink. he runs to the dogwood tree and plays with the blooms. i see his mouth moving and wish i knew what he saying. he gets distracted by last years clothesline still lying in the leaves (the tree it was attached to had to be cut this past fall). i get distracted by the dishes.


then, while i am at the sink, he comes running up behind me, humming a tune. i turn and he hands me a single dogwood bloom. i say, "for me? thank you. did you know these are one of my favorites?". i get no response. he turns, humming and runs back out the door.
and i was left with a sweet gift and motivation for taking my camera out and shooting something beautiful today. two gifts in one. thank you, sweet boy.