The Long Journey

Today was a very Austria morning and the weather reminds of my time in Europe, :) which makes up for the fact that it is cloudy, gray, and raining....
My morning was slower paced than usual, seeing as I was unusually wide awake much earlier than normal...So the pale pinkish gray light that came through our living room blinds immediately made my mind wander back to the mornings when I would blearily wander down the corridors of an ancient monastery, the hard stone floor seeping cold up through my socks, heading to the little tea kitchen. And there, while waiting for my tea water to boil, I would sleepily stare out the large balcony windows that led to the view of the side of the mountain the Kartause (my little monastery/school) was built up against. I would watch the sheep wander the side of the green hills dotted with wildflowers, or snow flit by, obscuring any view at all...but it was quiet and peaceful time which I loved having every morning. (not to mention that I was living in Europe! :)
So this morning, as I blearily wandered into my little kitchen and set up my coffee, I stared out our large front window a watched as a beautiful red cardinal flitted between the branches of the stark trees, their limbs heavy with crystalline water droplets... and remembered my loved time in Austria....
(and I just might have the Sound of Music stuck in my head right now...;)

(And, yes it has been five years...nope, I do not care,the hole still there...)