Three Beautiful Moments in an Ordinary Day

I’m on Substack now, and I recently saw a great post on my feed by one of the people I follow there (because her thoughts on homemaking and motherhood are profoundly beautiful, and I think her writing is a wonder).  She called it “6 Beautiful Moments in an Ordinary Day,” with captions for each of the six pictures.  I loved that idea: showing gratefulness for all the small, ordinary moments that we experience in the course of a mundane, average day, which are actually blessings and even almost miraculous.  So I thought it would be fun to try a similar post here at the blog (or better put, to be a total copy-cat!).

Here are three beautiful moments in my day, from about a week ago.

1

I was out walking in our neighborhood, and looking at this view of our house really struck me. It got me thinking about how much I absolutely love springtime in VA, when the cherry blossoms are blooming on our tree out front.  Between that glorious tree, and the white picket fence, and our garden statue of Mary near the front walk, I think this scene looks almost too beautiful to be real. As I stood there on my interrupted walk, I was reminded of the movie The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara (one of our very favorites, which we always watch on St. Patrick's Day).  O'Hara's Mary Kate Dannaher and Wayne's Sean Thornton get married and move into a darling thatched-roof cottage with an emerald green door, the most perfect little Irish cottage imaginable, but they have a rocky start to their union. Mary Kate is a girl who loves keeping her home, loves to have her things about her (I can totally relate to her!). Twice in that movie, she says to Sean, "It's a pretty cottage, isn't it?" To which he replies, "I think so."  That's the way I feel when I look at this house: I think it's such a pretty little cottage, and I couldn't be happier to live in it.  I feel so blessed to have it!  When we moved here nine years ago, leaving behind a much bigger house that had been our home for over a quarter of a century, I never would have believed I could feel this way about another house.  But oh, I do.  It will be the house that my grandchildren remember.

2

Speaking of how much I love springtime in VA--look at this spectacular view!!  Two of our boys, sons #3 and #4, live about 35 minutes south of us, and this is a view from the highway that connects our town with theirs.  We pass it every time we go back and forth to visit with them.  There are lots of similar views along the route, but this particular spot is just the best of all, with the wooden fence, the sprawling green fields, and the outlines of the Blue ridge Mountains in the distance--and no houses or other structures in the way to spoil its perfection.  For years, I've meant to take a picture of it, but it always rushes past before I remember to pull over.  Well, last Sunday son #4 and his gang were at our house for after-Mass brunch, and our daughter-in-law Braveheart mentioned that the view from this spot was better than ever right now. I mean, it's always so lovely, at any time of the year; but she said that there was currently a riot of daffodils blooming in the foreground.  Later that day, close to the dusky time of day photographers call the "magic hour," we were heading over to have dinner with son #3's family, to celebrate the fourth birthday of his fifth and youngest child; and my husband, God bless him, made this moment happen: he remembered to stop on the side of the road, so that I could snap a few quick pictures with my cell phone camera.  This scenic vista is just breath-taking; to me, it looks like an oil painting.  Almost too perfect to be real.  It makes me feel blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the country.

3

And finally, here is maybe the most beautiful moment of the three, captured for posterity: our sweet little grandson, the newly minted 4-year-old, playing with the present I made him for his birthday.  He is an absolute animal fanatic; so I painted a giant canvas play mat for his toy creatures to inhabit.  It's 24x36", so pretty good-sized, yet not nearly big enough for the extensive menagerie that he has these days!  But he did seem to like it, and watching him put it to use made his Grammy very happy.  Watching the grandchildren do anything at all tends to do that, actually.  Those are always some of life's most beautiful moments.  And I feel so blessed that I get to experience them on a regular basis.

There are so many moments to cherish, such beautiful daily proofs of the existence of God, on even the most ordinary of days in the most ordinary of lives.  God is so good!  We just have to keep our eyes open so that we don't miss them.

Have a blessed Easter, dear readers.