Nature is wondrous

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Nature is a wondrous, beautiful and sacred gift.

Wandering through a spring forest, bird songs, gathering and eating what we grow, the sweet smell of the earth after a promising spring rain, new born foals frolicking in the meadow, a fortifying summer shower, the glorious fall splendor, the purity and honesty of winter offer solace, hope and healing.

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To quiet our lives, taking time to notice, feel, listen, smell and taste as we intertwine with nature is indeed a miraculous and exquisite gift. We, as humans, can learn so much and be inspired by what nature offers each day.

Years ago, I watched a mother robin teach her offspring to fly. To see the care, patience, attention and time she willing gave until her baby finally took wing, was inspirational. I also have seen a watchful parent standing guard as the bunnies cavorted in the clover of my back yard.

Nature can also be very sad, cruel, dangerous and heartbreaking. A friend recently talked about watching a mother bird mourning her dead brood after a storm tore the nest apart. She said she knew the mother was grieving.

I was made aware of the brutality a while back. I heard a loud and varied screeching of birds in my back yard so I went out onto the deck to see what was going on. I observed a large number of birds flying wildly into and out of the top of a cedar tree. There were wrens, sparrows, blue jays, robins, cardinals and other smaller birds I didn’t recognize. They were all screaming and ferociously dive bombing the tree. I realized what was happening when I saw a big black bird, twice the size of even the biggest blue jay, fly out of the tree and quickly dart over the house with something dangling from its beak. A posse of all the other birds continued the attack and made chase. It is a sad but necessary part of nature we don’t like to think about.

Even though I was troubled by the experience, I was impressed at how all the birds joined together to fight off the intruder. It was a diverse bunch but they worked together against the threat.

I think a teaghlach sidhe have moved in to protect me and my home. A plethora of toadstools have recently sprung up in my front yard. So I don’t disturb The Wee Folk, I will cut the grass around their bhaile, like I do the milkweeds? Or maybe I will do a No Mow July.

Just in case you didn’t realize what I meant to say, I think one of the more mischievous sioga must have snuck into my computer while I was writing last week’s column and messed up some spelling.

There is a huge difference between “accepting” and “excepting” and I would never suggest any of us should ever make any exceptions for the bad deeds done by any Canadian in the past or today.

twocentsworth40@gmail.com