Sit Spot Journal - Day 1

After a serious bout of indecision, I finally settled on the backyard as my secret spot, which isn't so secret now that I've mentioned it.

Before sitting down and doing nothing but looking and listening for twenty minutes, I moved the patio swing so it would be facing something other than the wall. I cleaned the bench so I could sit, set the alarm on my phone, and promptly sat at 7:30 pm.

The first five minutes took at least fifteen minutes to pass. It seemed to drag on because my mind was racing, asking all kinds of silly questions...

What am I supposed to do? How long have I been sitting here? Am I doing this right? Am I done yet?

I resisted the urge to check the time. It would be cheating, I told myself.

So I started listening. The sound of air conditioners overpowered everything else. What was funny was how cool it was outside. With the constant evening breeze, the temperature was falling fast. An hour earlier, it had still been warm and stuffy. Now it was comfortable, bordering on chilly.

Every once in a while, I would hear birds chirping or dogs barking or the sound of trickling water coming from the neighbor's backyard fountain. I could hear the occasional car drive by the house. Then, I tuned all of those noises out and I could hear the my feet touching the patio bricks every time I pushed the swing.

And I started looking. Initially, I only saw everything I needed to do in the yard - weeds to pull, plants to trim, trees I wanted to plant. Then I began noticing the bees around the lavender plant and the hummingbird by the lamb's ear. I had never seen hummingbirds in the yard before. We have at least two.

Before I knew it, the alarm went off. It seemed like it had taken five minutes for the last fifteen to pass. And suddenly, I wished it had lasted longer.

Luckily, this is only Day 1. There are still 29 days to go, which means I should ration the exuberance I feel right now, so I can complete the challenge.