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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to look for swans. That is, little

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Speaker 1: spots of beauty and what might otherwise be forgettable time.

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Speaker 1: My husband and I normally arrange our weekends so no

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Speaker 1: one has to bring too many siblings to the sidelines

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Speaker 1: of other activities. But on a recent weekend he was

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Speaker 1: gone and my six year old really wanted to go

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Speaker 1: to his rock climbing class. The big kids aren't quite

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Speaker 1: ready to fully care for the toddler, so I brought

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Speaker 1: him along with me. And since we're all still dealing

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Speaker 1: with COVID risks and toddlers don't wear masks, I didn't

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Speaker 1: want to sit in the rock climbing gym with him

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Speaker 1: for an hour, so we wound up walking around a

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Speaker 1: pretty bleak office park parking lot. It was early March

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Speaker 1: and there were a lot of dirty snow piles. The

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Speaker 1: trees were still bare, the ground was a mix of

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Speaker 1: mud and ice, and of course, a parking lot by

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Speaker 1: a train track is never going to be the world's

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Speaker 1: most aesthetic experience. Anyway, I was filling time by pushing

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Speaker 1: the stroller to the far end of the parking lot

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Speaker 1: when I saw a curious sign heading towards the back

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Speaker 1: of a restaurant, swan crossing. Swan crossing. We went over

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Speaker 1: to investigate, and sure enough we saw two bright white

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Speaker 1: swans floating on a little creek that ran through the area.

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Speaker 1: We sat there for quite some time looking at these

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Speaker 1: gorgeous birds. They would dip their long necks under the

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Speaker 1: water and then come up, the little drops beating up

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Speaker 1: on their white feathers. Up close, we could see the

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Speaker 1: contrast of their orange beaks and the black patches near

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Speaker 1: their eyes. It was an unexpected moment of beauty and

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Speaker 1: what I was not thinking was going to be a

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Speaker 1: particularly pretty walk. But the world can surprise us this

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Speaker 1: way if we choose to look. Icicles hanging from the

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Speaker 1: eaves might dazzle like diamonds, and sunlight When I look

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Speaker 1: out the windows some early mornings, the pink sunrise can

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Speaker 1: be startlingly beautiful. My toddler and I spent some time

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Speaker 1: over the past weekend examining the bright green shoots that

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Speaker 1: have started to poke out of the earth. Moving water

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Speaker 1: over rocks can make an almost musical sound certain times

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Speaker 1: of the year, the world's beauty is readily apparent. In

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Speaker 1: April and May, the flowers will turn even a parking

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Speaker 1: lot into a sea of daffodils and flowering trees, and

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Speaker 1: late up Tober all those currently bare trees will be

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Speaker 1: crimson and gold. But during other times, finding beauty means

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Speaker 1: you need to look for beauty, but it is probably

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Speaker 1: still there. So look for swans. You never know when

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Speaker 1: you might find them, and a walk in a parking

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Speaker 1: lot will feel entirely different. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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Speaker 1: our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four, then Breakfast

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Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email

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Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before

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Speaker 1: Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,