The View From My Kitchen Window... Step One in my Retirement Routine

They say when you retire, you should create some kind of daily routine to keep boredom and depression at bay. Guess what? THEY are right!

After a couple years of tweaking my Retirement Routine, I still start my days the very same way… enjoying the view from my kitchen window.

What I haven’t yet put into my routine is sharing my view as the seasons change and the world turns. That’s been on my “could be cool” list of creative endeavors but I kept getting lost in silly little things like sweeping the kitchen floor and let’s Face it… Social Media.

Then I read a post written by John Richmond on the Storyline blog (also part of my daily routine) titled “Are you the Assassin of Your Own Ideas?“  The gist is to stop focusing on all the reasons to NOT do something (it takes time, I’m not that creative, will anyone really read it, really Who Cares what I have to say?) and put one foot in front of the other and just start.

Others have given me similar advice, including Anne Lamott and OK, I have to say it – Nike. (My career in marketing causes me to notice such things as the Just Do It campaign, which has some tremendous legs.)

Then as I was in the middle of my morning walk/run/pray I was thinking I could start by showing a photo of the robin nestlings just outside my window – which made me think “Of course spring is the perfect time to begin anew… or a blog.”

So after my outing, a shower and a bit of floor sweeping, I started to write! 

That evening as God-light embraced the nest, I snapped a couple photos.

I wish I would have taken photos of the nest building process. What started as a few twigs mysteriously stuck in the elbow of a downspout, soon blossomed into an amazingly secure and comfy robin nest. 

Over the course of 2 weeks, the robin couple carried dried fibers of grass, small twigs and mud, mouthful by mouthful to the nest, making several hundred trips. I could hear them tamping down the mud with their belly, wing and beak. Slowly, what was just a messy gathering of twigs, became a perfect nest. 

During the  process they had to fight off a couple of mourning doves who were mighty impressed with the nest. But Mr. and Mrs. Robin were not in the business of flipping homes. At least not until their brood was ready to move on.

Mrs. Robin laid their eggs and she and the proud papa-to-be took turns sitting on the nest. A couple weeks later the babies emerged! Mom kept them warm while dad hunted worms and bugs to keep them well fed.  

What God has programmed into these birds is amazing! After the first brood hatches and takes off on wings of flight... they are likely to start over again building an entirely new nest, and maybe a third. All within a few week's time in the short spring/summer of Michigan.

Wow.

This is my first View From My Kitchen Window post. I see lots of nature from my window and it inspires me in many ways. So my desire is to share my view and the perspective it provides, with anyone who happens upon these pages.

I'm interested in your perspective as well, so please feel free to comment as the spirit moves you. 

This IS my first consistent writing endeavor. So...

I’m going to try what Anne Lamott tweeted: "Leap up!  Find notebook. Scribble. Wow. You don't write to be remembered. You won't be; I won't be. Write bc it's on your heart."

I hope you enjoy this journey with me!

Miriam

P.S. My first child was born on a Friday the 13th. Since then, I have regarded every Friday the 13th as among my luckiest days. So then... what could possibly be a better day for my first blog post?