perfection

It's 91 degrees out.
The kids and I just returned from the pool.
It was Ruby's suggestion, and I thought it sounded like a perfect idea.
Wow, perfection it was.
Because the pool isn't heated, it was a bit cool for my liking, but the hot tub was perfect...not too hot (which is how I like it).
After soaking in the bubbles a while, and getting ourselves wet, we pulled up some lounge chairs and relaxed in the sun.
The sun was pretty bright and intense, and I started to worry because none of us had any sunscreen on.
So we moved our chairs into a nice shady area on the south side of the jacuzzi, and just lounged.
It was absolutely perfect.
The air was not hot, nor cold, just...
perfectly perfect.
Of course Asher couldn't lie still for long, but I enjoyed watching him from my lounge chair as he rode his tricycle around the pool again, and again, and again. The birds were chirping and the delicate leaves from the lush green trees (remember we don't have autumn here in Arizona...so yes, the trees are still very green) were rustling from the gentleness of the breeze.
The sky was blue. Very blue.
The water was still and perfectly clear.
As I lay there in the solitude, I couldn't help but ponder and reflect upon the exquisiteness of my surroundings.
How anyone can live on this beautiful planet, and still deny the existence of God, is beyond me.
For just as the prophet Alma from the Book of Mormon, testified to Korihor, the antichrist, all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.
As I lay there enjoying the perfection all around me, I said a silent prayer.
I thanked my Father for my surrounding beauties, which included, of course, my two babies.
I thanked Him for the gift of peace, which in all reality, is the gift of His Holy Spirit.
It's a beautiful thing, in such a troubled world, to be able to feel complete and absolute peace.
I could have stayed in that moment forever, and would have, if I didn't have to fight my eyelids from closing.
Can you imagine how horrible that could have been?
A day of perfection ending in tragedy because mom fell asleep at the pool.
I knew when I started to drift that it was time to call it a day.
The kids hopped on the tricycle (Ruby always drives and Asher rides on the back. It is the cutest sight in the world. I'll have to dig up a picture...I know I have one somewhere.) And I followed in their wake, dragging my bare feet through the recently watered lawn; and then turning around to see my trail of wet footprints marking the clean white pavement.
Perfection.
Taking time out from busy lives and schedules...to simply stop, and listen, and enjoy, and appreciate - to smell the roses, so to speak - is nothing short of perfection.
Try it sometime.
You will love it.

And then eat lunch on your kitchen floor. That's what we did.