Ode to a Sunny Morning

This morning, I stepped outside and saw this:



My own backyard. And I felt like I had swallowed a shot of joy. It coursed down my throat and into my stomach, and I smiled. The sun was shining - seems I haven't seen the sun in 100 years, though it's probably only been a week.

There's nothing extra special about our backyard. No manicured English garden, no roses tangling together on a trellis. But in our backyard, there is sky and grass. There are new magnolias and old crepe myrtles. There is a brown rabbit, an orange cat, a broken-down fence.

Best of all, on this patch of land is us.