Monday

Sometimes I wonder if contentment pushes you to a staid and adventure-less existence. Say you figured out the best hassle free travel. The best connection, with the best airline, reserving the best possible seat on the plane, giving yourself plenty of time to get to your favorite city. All to minimize stress and foster contentment. Don't you miss out on the thrill of the unknown? And say you've settled into a summer of quiet hours in your garden. Doesn't it get awfully calm after a while? Like, too calm?

On the one hand, you have contentment nailed. But without the spice of crazy turmoil, can you really appreciate contentment?

I'm of two minds about this. I like adventure, I like change, I like new places to explore. But I do work hard to minimize the craziness. Maybe this balanced approach is a good one, but, too, I have to say, you, Ocean readers, have a lot of flower photos to process as a result! No crazy scaling of summits with a backpack this month, no wacky nights sleeping under the stars, no trips with lost luggage and missed connections (knock on wood on that one!). Just flowers.

Today I snipped 725 lilies. Peacefully, methodically, contentedly.

I picked up some croissants and a baguette for breakfast (okay, so it was a little late in the morning)...

... which has to be just about my favorite morning meal. With summer fruits. What could be better?

And then Ed and I drove out to Brooklyn Wildlife Area. For a hike. We know these trails better than the backs of our hands, but today we were oh so bold and we detoured on offshoots that were less familiar. And it was lovely -- both the old and the new. 

We had the perfect weather for it: partly cloudy, a delicious breeze and the total quiet of a landscape that stretches for miles before us.

One of our detours took us past a new for us segment of a prairie. Goldenrod is in full bloom here and we could not get enough of its golden color! 

Corn to the left, goldenrod to the right. Are we in Wisconsin or what??

And finally, to this lovely day I add a Zoom chat with my two sweet and lovely friends who are just the best at rising to the occasion when my heart aches for a face to face talk.

This then was my day. Pretty good, don't you think? The adventure was in finding calm in these chaotic and turbulent times. The craziness is all around us. But we side-stepped it and found our spot of peace. And that's a good thing.