My prayer corner has not provided me the peaceful experience I had anticipated. First, the baseball games commenced, with practice every afternoon. Yay for restrictions lifted; boo for harshing my mellow. The baseball field and home plate is directly behind our house and fairly close. Hearing a loud CLINK every 10 seconds is intrusive as heck. And don't get me started when cheers erupt after a good hit or the coach starts yelling instructions. Ugh.

When the players aren't there, youngsters come to do who-knows-what, blaring rap music until my ears bleed.

Today I tried again, even in the heat, but the neighbor's Chinese tallow tree is shedding tiny green particles from the catkins they've produced. My prayer chair is covered with the stuff. In the evening, the bugs run me off after about 5 minutes. So much for the peppermint and citronella plants placed strategically to deter them. Oh well! I think next year I will plant a vegetable garden back there. It gets plenty of light and there's space for a 2' x 8' raised bed.

This afternoon a Northern Cardinal came and didn't seem to notice me in the corner. While I was at my dad's I figured out how to silence my camera's shutter, so I was able to get off quite a few shots before he became aware.

143/366Mouthful
400mm | f/5.6 | ISO 640 | 1/400 sec