Welcome to our favorite morning spot. With early sunshine and warm breeze, we watch the hummingbirds visit the fuchsia and the robins find their worm, chat about the day ahead and sip our brew. Everything feels easy while outside on a June day. And right about now, as the US of A is beginning to open back up, perhaps we can let go some of the fear and stress of the last 15 months. Easy is all that I need.

Although I have done some planting around the property, our neighbor is the real gardener. She has filled our shared backyard with poppies, lupins, lilies, ornamental and fruit trees, as well as host of hosta. Green of every hue dominates every direction, with pops of color in between. There are days I just wander about and let my eyes drift from red to pink to yellow and let these simple delights chase away what they might.

Can you ever have enough lupins? I suppose some of you might say a loud yes, as they do tend to take over a garden bed, but I am an always fan of these spiky perennials. Tenacious and hardy even in our harsh climate, they are a welcome sight come June.

Clematis love to climb up the shed wall, and I am so very glad they do. These are delicate flowers that like to find the sun on their own terms. Perhaps the best part of all of these flowers are the butterflies and bees that are coming and going, dancing all around us.

In the late afternoon we move to the back deck, following the sun like the flowers do, to catch every golden ray. Citronella candles at the ready, but mostly the slight breeze keeps the bugs away for us. We have created a sanctuary as best we can, leaving phones and laptops in the house, and letting our eyes fix on a bit of nothing for a while. Sheltering away from the storm that is the 6:00 news on every station. We have tired of the polarizing and extremes and are leaving those worries for this day at least.

As day shifts to evening we often enjoy a barbecued meal outside too. Lettuce from our own patch, but the rest of the veggies and local chicken are from the co-op down the road. Bird song fills the air and the sky shifts to all the pastels of sunset in this haven.

Rainy moments keep this little slice of paradise growing greener still, if that is even possible. Pretty soon the wild raspberries will ripen in and among the tree lines.