After working hard on school all day long and still feeling behind, I was feeling down. My husband noticed and suggested we go to a park. At first, I didn't want to go, didn't want to do anything, but my husband knew what I needed.

We arrived at Taylor Lake. The golden sunlight reflected off the algae-covered water and the long grasses on the island. There were more birds than people. A roseate spoonbill was wading in the water. It stood on one leg. Its flamingo pink feathers were stunning in the golden light and lush green of the park.

Spoonbill WadingCorrinne Brubaker

This time I wanted to take my time to enjoy the park and to slow down and notice things I had never noticed before. It's easy to focus on our own problems or thoughts and fail to notice the beauty and life happening all around us. My husband was determined to do the same, so we helped one another.

A tri-colored heron with its twig-like neck waded in the water at the end of the little island I stood on. It's a smaller heron with blue-grey and brown coloring.

Tricolored Heron WadingCorrinne Brubaker

Further across the water was a wood stork wading in the water. I walked back along the island and splashing in the water was a cormorant. It emerged from its fishing and perched on a stick floating at the edge of the water. It spread its long black wings and stretched its curvy neck to dry off in the sun. There was nearly every type of bird there, and I got to enjoy them.

I continued a few steps back towards the wooden footbridge that would take me off the island, but then I stopped and pointed out a beautiful tree. Its branches many large branches angled towards the sky were illuminated in soft light from the sun. The tree was beautiful and peaceful. I'm glad I noticed it. How many trees, flowers, birds, bugs, and other things do we pass by without noticing because we are too distracted, or we take them for granted? But how many new things do you notice when you choose to slow down and observe them? How many different bird calls can you hear? Sometimes all the songs get ignored as simply background noise because we have drowned them out for our own thoughts.

It's hard to say how many new things we noticed that day in the park. We continued walking off the trail. My husband pointed out these small red mushrooms that were buried in the grass; we wouldn't have noticed them if we weren't looking closely. Or how about the dozens of bugs flying around? You begin to notice that you are surrounded by life, every blade of grass, every tree, every bug, every bird, it's all alive, and to be a part of it, immersed in the life, is the most peaceful thing I have ever experienced.

Ground Cover in the SunlightCorrinne Brubaker

As we continued around, a black swallowtail butterfly flew around me. It landed on a nearby plant where I could get a better look at it. At first, I had only seen the black, but now I could see the yellow and white spots along its fuzzy black body and wings. There were also orange spots and bright blue spots.

Black Swallowtail ButterflyCorrinne Brubaker

I walked back around past where I saw the spoonbill earlier, and now I could see it was walking in the shallow water panning its half-open spoon-shaped bill through the water. Then it would lift it's bill up and shake a fish down its throat and continue searching for more. I had seen some spoonbills before but had never seen them feed, so this was a wonderful treat. I enjoyed watching it for a while longer, taking it all in, and enjoying nature. It's funny how only an hour or so earlier I was feeling down, now I was more at peace than ever and excited about life.