I made several discoveries around the house.  The first one was a toad was living in a crack in front of the door.  He was no small toad–at least two inches wide.  I only saw him once in front of my door but I saw him disappear into the crack on the bottom.

It was magical:  he just tucked himself into the crack and was immediately gone from my view.  Since then I have kept my eyes open for him but did not see him again.

In back of my house, which was allowed this year to grow wild, was a patch of flowers I have often seen.  I knew it was a common weed:  a little white flower that looked like a tiny daisy.  I was amazed:  There must have been hundreds of those flowers in that big patch.

For months every time I stepped out the front door I would occasionally glance look at that tiny bird nest two inches in diameter resting on the nearby ledge.  I would be awed that a hummingbird could build such an perfectly round edifice.

I found the nest in the middle of the road nearby.  It must have fallen from an overhanging branch.  Every time I looked at that nest my breath would be taken away momentarily.

Another plant I never paid much attention was goldenrod.  For a long time I would mistakenly call another yellow flower goldenrod although goldenrod comes out later in the season.  My wife finally told me the proper name of that spring flower.

When I was walking my dog around my block, which is almost a mile around, I discovered there were acres of goldenrod in the gigantic meadow I passed.  I also found several patches of it around our property.  It was as if I was seeing goldenrod for the first time this year.  These were just a few discoveries I made.