I love nothing better than to get up, sneak a peek out my window, and see some new, wondrous view from my spot on Sand Mountain. I call my little place Big Woods. Where we are located has been logged. Having been part of thick forest at one time means most of the remaining trees grow straight up toward the big sky. We have a field of sage grass on one side which meanders down the mountain and various thickets that fill in spaces that dip between the rolling acreage. These areas provide perfect hiding places for white-tailed deer that like to come out in the mornings for their morning stroll, lots of rabbits, squirrels, and all sorts of bird-life.

We keep a bird feeder full so we are visited by bright gold finches, rose finches, cardinals, wrens, red-winged black birds, and myriad other birds. The hummingbirds congregate around their feeder perched on the rail of our deck, sometimes a dozen at a time. They have become so tame, my husband is able to sit with a lid full of their feed in his hand and they will light on it to eat.

Last evening, I saw something I have never witnessed before: a clear-winged moth. This insect strongly resembles a tiny hummingbird. I actually thought it was a baby hummingbird until we got a better look at it and realized it did not possess a beak. It drank from the hummingbird feeder though, and the flowers around the deck.

Our granddaughters, Micaela, age 7, and Elizabeth, 16 months, were here with us as we sat outside in the evening and observed all the nature God had on display. Earlier in the day, we had picked blackberries. Micaela and I made a cobbler. We have good health. Does life get any better?

Nature has a way of grounding your senses, reminding you there is a vast order to life, yet it is wild and you are part of it!