Tomatoes on the Balcony

What a lovely Sunday! It is Father’s Day, but it is a quiet day for us because our children do not live in the area and our own fathers passed away years ago.

Even though it is a quiet Father’s Day for us, it is truly a perfect day. The weather is warm and dry and just a little breezy. I got up late since we were out late last night partying the night away, as is typical of our lifestyle. (Well, that may be something of an exaggeration.)

Anyway, I arose later than usual and decided to have breakfast. I fixed it and brought it out to my balcony, because as you may remember: 1) I live in the city in a high rise building; and 2) I am boring and eat the same breakfast every day. Here it is:    

 

It was just so lovely munching on my peanut butter toast while reading the newspaper and enjoying being outside, because while I always eat the same, I do not always have the opportunity to munch and sip outside in the morning. Hooray for a perfect summer morning!

Here is the view from my balcony:

You may be able to see a church off on the left. It is a lovely church and sits on the edge of the huge Rock Creek Park which begins a block from my building. This part of the park begins with what is locally called the P Street Beach.  The P Street Beach is a large grassy, hilly area leading down to a section of Rock Creek. It is the best place in the city for doggie Frisbee and is usually speckled with sunbathers. Today Rock Creek is splashing by with a pleasing whooshing sound. No wonder the sunbathers are also nappers.

After breakfast I went out for a long “power walk.” No need for the treadmill in the gym today! It is the perfect morning for being outside.  After huffing and puffing up hills, I concluded my walk at my beloved farmers market. Today I bought tomatoes, sugar snap peas, and strawberries. Yum! Did you know that strawberries are actually different sizes and many times the best ones are quite small? If you only see strawberries in the supermarket you would think they were stamped out of a mold….

Anyway, I came back home and had lunch on my balcony. What a day! Two meals on the balcony! Here is my lunch:

Yes, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, and anchovies! Hey! I heard that “Eeewww!”

And now that lunch is over, I am writing to you about all that I ate today because it was special, and because I got to eat it outside. Yes, this is the essence of Noticing! I didn’t just gobble something at the kitchen counter and run off to the next thing. Although, of course, I have done that often enough. Not today though. Today I Noticed the perfect weather. I Noticed the perfect tomato. I Noticed the perfect strawberry. And I Noticed the sparkling creek.

And soon we will go off to a wedding. What could be a better day?!

I hope your day is full of Noticings and fun! Let me know.

©2014 Margery Leveen Sher

MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk peppered with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”

Margery Leveen Sher is a speaker, writer, and entrepreneur with decades of experience as a consultant for major corporations and government agencies.  She is the founder and Chief Noticing Officer of The Did Ya Notice? Project, and is currently writing the definitive book on Noticing.