September 13, 2000      It is Wednesday afternoon and I am sitting here at my round umbrella table outside, drinking a Pepsi and enjoying the light breeze and the sunshine through the trees.  There is a monarch butterfly flitting around to all the flowers and she has finally settled on the little lemon yellow sunflower next to the herb garden.  There are two squirrels scampering up and down the big tree and back and forth to the bird feeder to get seeds.  They don't seem to mind or notice that I am there in the yard.  Several sparrows and a cardinal are also around the feeder enjoying a meal.  Two black kittens have come into the yard squeezing their way under the gate and are slowly crawling their way up to the bird feeder.  Now they stop and lay low and watch.  Oh, one of the kittens has noticed me and is sitting very still, now she gets up on her hind legs and takes a closer look...oh, oh she has decided to run and the other one follows.  Mom cat is there too but she doesn't run, she's known me a long time and just walks over to the water barrel and gets drink of water.
     Lots of bees in the yard today, one lands on my leg but quickly flies away before I can react to it being there.  I can still smell the earth where I turned it to do the plantings today.
     I look straight ahead toward the house and I can see the butterfly bushes in bloom, lavender, blue, pink and white.  The Goatsbeard is done blooming but the flowers are opening to scatter seed and turning a white fuzzy color.  Mom cat stops to sniff at a yellow snapdragon that's close to the ground.  In the raised bed I see lots of flowers, red, yellow, gold...so pretty.  The hybiscus are in bloom, the flowers are always so huge and white and pink.  The Morning Glories have climbed over the top of the arbor again this year and are in full bloom.  Over by the clothes poles I can see the heirloom tomato plants (german and belgian this year) with so many tomatoes on them and I already picked two pails full.  That breeze is still blowing, how wonderful to be in the yard today.  I especially like the way the sun looks when it shines through the leaves on the trees.
     A little story present to myself to be opened in the winter of 2000 on a blustery day :)