in the moment

 "Somehow one was always looking ahead, planning the next move, trying to cut down time. And in all this bustle the present was lost. The daisy opened, closed and died. The chaffinch threaded the last bit of moss into its nest before sitting. The sun reached the point in the heavens when the weathercock turned to gold. And all these wonders passed unremarked, because the clock on the mantelpiece gave stern reminder... Charles Henstock was the first to honour his duties towards God and his neighbors. But what a bonus it was...to have these precious moments of just being, of becoming aware of all the other lives impinging on one's own, and of having time to give thanks for such revelation."

                                                                        -  Miss Read, Affairs in Thrush Green