Tag: Smell of fresh cut grass

A “Sense”ible Throw Away

I suppose this particular blog is what they call a “throw away.” It is a simple piece that came about because of something I read earlier in the week. The piece was about easing anxiety by connecting with your 5 senses.

The piece says that when you start to feel anxiety, uneasy you can calm down with the “five senses” or “5,4,3,2,1” technique. It is a way to connect with the present instead of being anxious about the future.

You are to find a quiet place, take a deep breath and then:

5 (Sight) – Look for five things. Look around you and name five things you can see. Say each item out loud. For example, you might say: ‘I see a computer, I see a pen, I see a cup, I see a photo, I see a light.’

Next – 4 (Touch) Feel four sensations. Focus on your body and acknowledge four things you can feel. For example, the hair on the back of your neck or the ground under your feet. As with sight, say each of these things out loud. 

Next – 3 (Hear/Listen) Listen for three sounds. What can you hear around you? Birds, traffic, a ringing phone? Name three sounds out loud.

Next – 2 (Smell) Smell two scents. Take a deep breath through your nose. Name two things you can smell. If you can’t smell anything, think of two of your favorite smells.

Finally, 1 (Taste) Taste one flavor. Toothpaste from brushing your teeth, a mint from after lunch, the lingering flavor of this morning’s coffee. Name one thing you can taste and say it out loud. If you can’t taste anything, name one of your favorite flavors.

I thought of the article when I woke up this afternoon. I woke up to the smell of fresh coffee, which always makes me happy.

Before getting ready for work, I walked outside and my neighbor had cut his grass – yet another one of my favorite smells.

As I walked to my car to leave for work, a slight breeze brought the sweet smells of the lilac bushes toward me.

They seem to grow bigger every year. They are extra fragrant this year. I always feel like their wonderful aromas are not around long enough. I suppose this fact makes me appreciate the smell of them every year.

I was actually quite surprised at this picture I took with my phone…

I love the detail of the flower.

So what is the point of this blog – I don’t know, really. As you go through your day today, pause and enjoy some of the smells of summer.

A Morning Spring Walk

I’ve been struggling with a few things lately. I decided to listen to my own advice and take a step back and look around and appreciate the little things. So this past week, I put Ella in her stroller and we took a 2 and a half mile walk around the neighborhood.

She loves going for a walk and it was very beneficial for me as well. The first thing I did was focus on the sounds of spring, which were all around us as I walked!

The Sounds

As I was putting Ella in her stroller, the sounds of the birds singing rang loudly in my ears.

As I listened to them, I could here the songs of different types of birds. One, in particular, reminded me of early mornings in Caseville. I remember walking out of grandma’s trailer and hearing this one particular bird sound. Funny how you can remember that almost 40 years later.

At one point during our walk, the church bells began to chime.

It is not odd to hear the church bells/chimes begin to play hymns during the day. I recognized the hymn as being Blessed Assurance.

The weather was nice, so naturally, some neighbors were out mowing the grass.

This allowed me to experience not only the sounds of the lawnmower, but the smell of fresh cut grass.

There were also plenty of neighbors out working in the garage. I loved walking by and hearing the sounds of a small radio playing from inside the garage.

I remember my dad always had the radio on when we were outside on the weekends. If he was washing the car, working on the yard, painting, cleaning the garage, or fixing something – the radio was always on. I remember many Sundays listening to Casey Kasem and American Top 40 while we helped outside.

The Sights

Along with the sounds of spring, there were plenty of sights, too!

Ella always gets a kick out of the squirrels running up a tree or around a yard.

There are plenty of squirrels in the neighborhood – and many that run around my yard!

The Robin is the Michigan State Bird. We always look for the “first robin of spring.” They are all over now. They were hopping all around the yards and bird feeders we see along our route.

Along the way, we also saw many neighbors out doing yard work.

I truly wish that I had the time and energy to do what some of my neighbors do! I’m lucky if I get the leaves out of the flowerbeds by late summer! It is SO much work! Yet, there are neighbors who line their walkways with tulips, fill their flower beds with every flower imaginable, and have hanging flowers that are beautiful all spring and summer long! We bought hanging plants one year and they died within two weeks. I obviously do not have a green thumb.

Kudos to my neighbors! I love looking at the product of your hard work when I walk.

There is one house I always walk by with Ella. I do it because there is always this old hound dog outside.

The dog is either laying along the fence or up on the back porch. It always looks up when we walk by, but it is old and content to just lay there soaking up the sun. We have no idea what the dog’s name is, but she gets a kick out of seeing that dog on our walk.

Sadly, the dog is really old and I’m not sure how many more walks we will be seeing him/her out there.

The last thing I really enjoy seeing when I am out walking is people sitting out on the front porch. I’m not sure why more people don’t do this, but it seems to be more and more rare.

Before Ella, we would sit out on the porch in the morning and drink coffee. That doesn’t happen too much anymore. There is something about sitting out with a hot cup of coffee, my Bible, or a newspaper that is so relaxing. I don’t need a rocking chair, any chair will do.

I guess the only beef I have with sitting on the porch lately is the recent increase in the number of bees and wasps. I’ve walked around the house and looked to see if there are nests, but I can’t seem to find any. I read somewhere that peppermint oil will repel them. Maybe I need to find a way to put that around the porch?

The walk around the neighborhood really helped me relax. Noticing the sights and sounds instead of being lost in thought was a big part of that. I’m looking forward to my next walk …