It's hard to get garden time in with the little one around. She moves at lightening speed these days and all outdoor tasks must be done at a correlating rate. Yesterday I snuck a moment and ran outside to feed the fish, water the chickens and dump some water on the volunteer squash.

My hi-tech watering solution for the squash goes like this: feed the fish on one side of the pond, then before the food spreads, dip a pot in the pond to collect water. That way no fish are harmed in the watering of said squash. Water gets dumped onto the base of the squash vines and they seem to flourish under tough love.

Anyway, the pot stays by the pond, so I reached to grab it and heard a splash; I thought a fish jumped out of the water. Weird and all, but I went along with the task at hand, leaned over to get the water and lo and behold a frog was staring up at me! You're probably not surprised. . . frog, pond, whatever, but we're into our second year of having the pond and this is my first frog sighting! {I think it was a cricket frog.}

I guess it opened my eyes a little wider and the world came alive all around me: moths, native bees, damselflies {which are also a new addition to the list of wildlife in our yard}. All it took was a 2 minute step outside.

What a wonderful reminder that we all need to take those brief moments to recognize the brilliant and lively world around us.