Years ago, when we first got cable TV, my husband watched the Weather Channel. They had a feature called something like “Weather on the Fives,” local weather at 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 25 minutes, etc. So, really, whenever you turned on the Weather Channel, you could conceivably get your local weather by watching for five or ten minutes.

Today is October 5. I am keeping up with Liz’s Five Things Fall 2023 session. Today’s prompt is Five Things Outside the Window. Well, I ended up with more than five things. (I may not look like it or even act like it, but I am a bit of a rule-breaker when it suits my putposes!)

My list of things I noticed outside my window(s) are:

1. The Birdsong Choir: Chirping and squawking, all so joyful.
2. The “whosh” of traffic on the road in front of my home; noisy!
3. Bright red spider lilies in the middle of the front yard. They came from Mama’s yard YEARS ago!
4. The last roses of the summer
5. The glass-like surface of the water on the pond
6. The brilliant blue sky and white clouds
7. Trees moving in a gentle breeze
8. The first leaves turning red, yellow, and brown

See? I told you I was a rule-breaker. (And as I’ve joked before: there is a reason I taught English instead of math for 43 years! I don’t count!)

I’m thinking of making Five on the Fives a regular feature in my journals and perhaps on the blog.

Paying attention to what’s around me. . . I get too caught up in the day-to-day stuff of life to pay attention to life. For me, the goal in my retirement is to be aware of the life around me, not just in the backyard, but everywhere around me. I am looking forward to the winter edition of Five Things!