Beautiful late summer mornings

I walked into the living room early this morning, after Darren had already left for work and while my kids were still sleeping, and was struck by the beauty of the soft golden sunlight flooding over the houses out beyond our back wall. I ran to grab my camera, hoping to capture the moment, and gasped as I stepped onto the back porch. Audibly. And then I held my breath, because the sky, the clouds, were such an indescribable, perfectly amazing sight to behold. I have never seen anything like it. I stood transfixed, watching it evolve before my upturned face from a brilliant pink to bright gold, before finally fading to an unremarkable sky scattered with common white clouds. It was such an awe inspiring start to my day! While I was outside, I checked the vegetable garden and smiled to see my familiar beauties: fat, ripe tomatoes hanging low to the ground, brilliant Morning Glories scattered here and there along the perimeter of the bed, and this beautiful carrot flower, a striking white against all that green.There have, in recent weeks, been so many other little unexpected moments of joy and beauty in our mornings, and I thought I'd share them here, too. One of my favorites is this darling little Desert Cottontail, found by Darren just a few days ago in his cactus garden, on a morning when he (thankfully!) was going in to work late. All the kids got to see and pet this precious little critter before we turned him loose and watched him hop away! Too, too cute.I love the way the sunlight is streaming through our hummingbird feeder in this next picture, illuminating the praying mantis perched daintily there on it's side. We have had quite an abundance of these fascinating little visitors over the past month or so, and we just love them. My kids are always so excited to see them clinging to the window screens, often several at a time.And, this next picture is not very clear, but I was so happy and surprised several days ago to see a White Lined Sphinx Moth (also known as a Hummingbird Moth) in flight, right in our flower bed! I had seen them resting on our window screens a few times, but had yet to experience the pleasure of watching one fly. I am so glad I happened to see this one!I can sense a subtle shift in the look and feel of our mornings, and I know that fall is just around the corner. I could not be more thrilled! There is much I'll miss about the summer, but I have been waiting all year for the return of fall. It is, without a doubt, my absolute favorite season of all!