I have multiple bird feeding stations, strategically placed outside several windows at my house, so I can just sit, watch, and enjoy, the feathered guests that have come to feed. I watch as I eat my breakfast at the dining room table. I watch as I work in my office. I watch as a sit in the living room, seeing them gathering around the suet and the seed block, on the back patio. And if I’m really still and quiet I can sit on my front porch and watch them take a sweet sip of water from the bird bath, accompanied by a quick wash to refresh themselves. And all this watching… nine times out of ten with a cup of tea.

I’m more sentimental these days…realizing that it’s life’s simple moments, sensations, and actions that we experience, feel, and do every day, quite often without taking notice, which lead to enormous amounts of joy. Just those few precious moments of silence – watching the birds and savoring my tea, makes me feel so good- and I unexpectedly realize that I’m happy. I now recognize it’s my birds (not Alfred Hitchcock’s Birds) and my tea that give me the “shove” I often need to navigate through my very messy and complicated life.

 So, now just like the picture, I want to drink tea with my feathered friends and just be happy!