Stopping to Notice

"The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention." ~Julia Cameron

I love birds. This fellow was in a pine tree by a very still pond when I was running at Callaway Gardens last weekend. I watched this heron and another one fly around, back and forth across the pond. I walked along a little dirt trail next to the pond to get a closer look and picture of it. This one flew up in the tree and remained there until I could get pretty close. I always wish I had my "big" camera at times like this, but truth be told if I had to trade one in, it would be the big one and I'd keep my little handheld Olympus. I usually carry it when I run and stopping to take pictures of things along the trails and paths I take is a huge part of the enjoyment of running for me. Sometimes I hear things calling to me, urging me to stop and notice them, to take their picture, or just enjoy their beauty.

Beautiful sights and sounds I've stopped and noticed the past week include:

~the way the sunlight hits part of a tree while the other part is in the shade

~a shining white trunk of a tree with its white branches reaching up into a clear blue sky

~the sound of a woodpecker knocking on a bare tree

~the whooshing noise of the wind blowing in my ears as I sit on a tree stump

~the mournful cry of geese by the river

~the soft bubbling of a tiny stream racing over the rocks

~the green of pine needles standing out in the brown of the winter forest

~swirling patterns in ice formed by small puddles on the trail

~beautiful deer frozen in the woods as I pass by, their large, soft ears standing at attention

There are so many beautiful moments in life. Sometimes all we have to do is stop and notice.