Every day I go outside just before dawn. Or more accurately, just before the sun crests the peaks of the Sandia Mountains. I love early mornings in Albuquerque. My neighborhood in Albuquerque is as quiet as a small town in rural Nevada most nights and the early mornings are just as free from the sounds of people and their machines.

In the winter hundreds of crows fly overhead every morning on their way to the Rio Grande from their winter roosts in the northeast side of the valley. They fly overhead but never stop.They note every creature they see and their caws let everyone know that they’ve seen something. As spring approaches they settle into their summer roosts along the river.

Unless the winds are high, even on the chilliest mornings hot air balloons dot the sky. There are usually five to seven staggered across the western horizon and heading overhead towards the east. It’s too bright to see their burners but their colors wouldn’t be camouflage outside of Keukenhoff. https://keukenhof.nl/en

The other day I stopped to watch three large cottontail rabbits cavorting in my neighbor’s yard. They ran and ran in circles, eventually leaving his yard and heading into the street. They made it across the street and into my yard, not missing a step as they navigated the fence boards. I must have looked like a tree standing there in my driveway, at least in their world if not mine. They ran and hopped and jumped in circles around my feet and bounded back into the street and away down the road. I stood silent with a smile on my face not moving a muscle.

Across the road to my left one of the neighborhood roadrunners hopped a six foot fence and leaped upwards from there, landing on the roof. Roadrunners can fly but they don’t seem to want to. In the spring their calls are like this one.

They also make a clacking sound like the Shoebill, but much less intimidating.

I have one plant to plant and some seeds left to sow for the garden this year. As always, we went from a freeze watch to 95F (35C) in just two days and the planting season is nearing it’s end.

These are a few of the little things that keep me going when the world around me is doing some societal terraforming. There is always something beautiful happening. Even in the most challenging landscapes, beauty can be found. There’s always a human being somewhere caring for another. They probably won’t make the news because it’s not newsworthy, it’s an everyday, expected occurrence.