Today

The Today meme is hosted by Masha! Join in over at Piękno, or leave your own sensory notes in the combox...

Today I am...

Feeling... comparatively peaceful. I had a lovely evening last night with Lou and both our sets of parents, got up this morning and warmed up my voice properly for the second weekday in a row (in the shower, yes), gave the garden a thorough watering as the night fog cleared slowly, and got a decent start on the laundry. I have also not had caffeinated coffee since last Thursday's fiasco, and I think my piano playing has improved in consequence.

Seeing... blossoms all over the yard, nearly-ripe windfalls under the apple tree, and green pumpkins appearing in the uncut grass around the vines.

Smelling... a whiff of hot car tires and exhaust on the otherwise-clean summer air.

Tasting... a raspberry from the garden. They're getting to the end of their season, but to my surprise, they haven't lost all their flavor yet.

Listening... to the fledgling chickadees hopping about in the trees and twittering.

Grateful... for two loving sets of parents. I am more than usually blessed.

Reading... Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I couldn't stop at the end of chapter one. I'm also procrastinating on taking up The Man who was Thursday; Chesterton's novels are odder than his nonfiction. Mr. Pond recently suggested a couple of Agatha Christie works to me, too, which he swears are not as terrifying as And Then There Were None, so I may try and track those down.

Loving... this little 'bit of earth'.

Hoping... for a pleasant and not-overly-nervous experience filling in as director for the other parish choir this week. After that, I suppose it'll be a long time before I do much conducting again, and it'll be nice to have my concentration freed up for, say, writing novels. But I'll miss it. Considering my crazy panic over that first time behind the music stand, that's good to know.