day 171 – drama in the foothills

I need a ReVerse…can we have a do-over?!

in the deep, I am forever
(as) the dust settles 
a gentle prodding
you cannot wish our souls away
wrapped in grace and trust…
insanity reigns

~kat

The natural world is not always rainbows and butterflies. But it is a just and fair cycle of life. Sometimes I get a front row seat like today. 

The day started like it usually does. A perfect summer morning. A bit of a breeze, which is always fragrant this time of year. This morning I detected a hint of honeysuckle. One of my deer friends came by to say good morning, so a tossed her a bit of corn to munch on. I had some errands to run…before settling in for a little cat nap.

And that’s when I saw him, a magnificent red shouldered hawk perched a few yards away from the bird feeders. It was clear that the finches, cardinals, wrens, tits, cowbirds, and mourning doves had sent out the alarm…best to take shelter…danger from above. (Ironic, isn’t it, that humans in various locations are exercising a similar practice these very days…but for much more selfish, malevolent reasons…power, greed, and hate…but I digress…)

The hawk, though his shadow from above scattered the smaller critters here in the woods, he was not being hateful or vindictive, or even monstrous. He just had an empty belly to fill, and the felled tree trunk beneath him just happened to be home to several smaller rodent-types. Field mice and chipmunks, snakes and lizards. I know he has harvested birds on occasion…the splattering of feathers is a dead giveaway.

But today poultry was not on the menu. He was looking for a snack (I suspect this because there were 1/2 a dozen squirrels collecting seeds under the feeders, and he was not interested in the least.) I stepped away from my window seat for a few minutes and when I returned, he was gone, either bored from the blight of fresh options or he had found what he came for. To my delight all the birds had returned to the feeders, the squirrels were beneath catching the seeds that dropped to the ground. And I thought, what a lovely glimmer…life goes on. 

But that was not the end of mother nature’s glimmer show today. Soon a turkey hen made her way to the feeders to pluck seeds from the ground…and to my surprise and delight she had a young chick I tow, showing it the ropes on this little acre in the foothills.

She even introduced it to the red clay hill nearby and showed it how to take a dust bath. Life does indeed go on! 

One more…a video of the hen-chick spa day!

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you! 

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨