Tumultuous weather, beautiful night

Today’s weather fit the old saying of “if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change”. We had it all (well, maybe not quite ALL – a internet buddy in Alaska had a big dump of snow!) – we had torrential rain, hail, gusty winds, light showers, and brilliant sunshine. Mix and repeat. Several times.

But now, just as darkness falls and I go outside to close up the barn for the night, it is a magnificent evening. The air is still and fresh, the sky is clear, the moon is bright and the stars are just beginning to appear. Soon there will be a blanket of starlight above me.

I stand at the pasture gate and say goodnight to Martin, and listen to the music of thousands of frogs performing evensong along the creeks and ponds in my neighbourhood. A lone robin harmonizes with its clear sweet voice from a still-bare tree branch. A coyote howls from the fields across the road, and I hear the soft whoo-whoo-whoo of an owl nearby.

And once again I feel so richly blessed.