Small Things, Big Pleasures.

Hello everyone! It was a mostly cloudy day with showers and continuing on the cool side. The high for today was 72F (22C) and that has been the average temperature for the past few days, with one day being cooler at 66F (19C). Summer is definitely over. But, the cooler weather and showers have helped settle the forest fires for now. There are still around 120 fires burning, but they are not really growing in size anymore.

So that is a good thing. The sky is mainly clear now and the temperature is supposed to get quite cool tonight. Last night I couldn’t sleep. My back was paining terribly, as was my hip and shoulder. The cooler, damp weather bothers my back and arthritis, and that makes it hard to sleep. Oh well. Today I thought maybe I would share some pictures of some small things that bring big pleasure to me. This is only a small sampling, of course, there are so many it would take quite a few posts to share them all.

I will probably share more in the days ahead, but this will get us started anyway. One thing is butterflies. Their bright colors and unique patterns always bring a smile and are a definite pleasure, whether in the country or city.

Then there are small birds, like the chickadees, both the Black-capped Chickadee and the Boreal Chickadee. They are such small birds yet they survive during the hot weather of summer and our coldest winter days. Their cheery songs are always a delight to hear. Another small bird is the Indigo Bunting with it’s bright blue plumage, they are definitely hard to miss, but yet, they are seldom seen around here though they are a common bird. But they are a real pleasure whenever I do get to see one of them.

There are other insects, too, besides the butterflies, like the Orange-belted Bumblebee, the Bee fly (which doesn’t sting or bite, but they are interesting to watch).

There is the Chipping Sparrow, which is our smallest sparrow, and the Fox Sparrow, which is our largest sparrow. They always bring a smile to my face when I see them and I love to listen to the Fox Sparrow singing early in the morning when they return in the spring.

And, of course, there are so many small flowers with amazing beauty, they are always a joy to see. The Forget-Me-Nots and various violets come to mind as they bloom in spring and early summer. The Forget-Me-Not blooms in blue, white and pink. Violets bloom in light to dark purple, white and yellow. All of them brighten the landscape around us.

Well, that is a few of the small things that bring me big pleasure, yet many times these small things are the easiest to overlook. Well, I hope you all have a great day and God bless!

Steve. ©2026 Steve McLeod.