GRASS!

I wasn't sure yesterday, but this morning I saw it - the grass in my front yard!

As much as I love watching snow fall (and I do, even after this winter) I also love watching it recede.  I love watching the blanket pull back and reveal earth we haven't seen in months.

It isn't always easy to see the turning of the Wheel in our daily lives.  Day to day things look much the same and we, being busy people that we are, often rush through on our way to offices and appointments and dates.  It's easy to overlook the little changes when our focus isn't on the present.

So very much is said about "being in the present" and "keeping our focus on the here and now" that it seems there is little left to be said on that point... and yet, do we listen?  Or is this now just a message that we read and nod and smile and move on without absorbing?  I'll admit - it's hard to be in the here and now.  It's not always fun.  It's not always exciting.  Sometimes it's downright disturbing or painful... but always important.

I won't put on a smile and tell you that I'm always present, and always in the here and now.  That'd be a lie and you know it.  I will tell you that I make a conscious effort to be though - and I'll tell you why.  It's for the sparks.  Yup - I do it for the sparks.  The spark of memory that seeing the first buds of spring brings me.  The spark of enlightenment when I feel close to the Gods.  The spark of creativity that seeing the changing color of the sky brings.  The more my attention is on the present, the more sparks I get and the better off I am.

Noticing the little things often gives you a smile that nothing else can, and don't we all need a few more smiles in our lives?