Visitations

I love where we live! Every day we have

Visitations

from birds, ducks, geese rabbits, squirrels, and turtles in our front and back yard. Yesterday I noticed a family of mallard ducklings in the pond. They were so tiny that I think they must have just hatched sometime earlier that same day.

This morning during the rain, a pair of Baltimore Orioles visited my bird feeders. They ended up liking the little hydrangea tree that grows near the feeders more than the feeder themselves. I was lucky enough to have my camera with long lens attached, at the ready. All I needed to do was pick it up and wait for them to move to positions in the tree where I could get a clear view of them through the window.

What a gift it is to see the wild creatures every day!

The gratitude I feel today for all of nature’s wonder and beauty reminds me of Mary Oliver’s poem, Gratitude. It feels like a good day to share it with you here.

What did you notice?

The dew-snail;
the low-flying sparrow;
the bat, on the wind, in the dark;
big-chested geese, in the V of sleekest performance;
the soft toad, patient in the hot sand;
the sweet-hungry ants;
the uproar of mice in the empty house;
the tin music of the cricket’s body;
the blouse of the goldenrod.

What did you hear?

The thrush greeting the morning;
the little bluebirds in their hot box;
the salty talk of the wren,
then the deep cup of the hour of silence.

When did you admire?

The oaks, letting down their dark and hairy fruit;
the carrot, rising in its elongated waist;
the onion, sheet after sheet, curved inward to the pale green wand;
at the end of summer the brassy dust, the almost liquid beauty of the flowers;
then the ferns, scrawned black by the frost.

What astonished you?

The swallows making their dip and turn over the water.

What would you like to see again?

My dog: her energy and exuberance, her willingness,
her language beyond all nimbleness of tongue,
her recklessness, her loyalty, her sweetness,
her strong legs, her curled black lip, her snap.

What was most tender?

Queen Anne’s lace, with its parsnip root;
the everlasting in its bonnets of wool;
the kinks and turns of the tupelo’s body;
the tall, blank banks of sand;
the clam, clamped down.

What was most wonderful?

The sea, and its wide shoulders;
the sea and its triangles;
the sea lying back on its long athlete’s spine.

What did you think was happening?

The green beast of the hummingbird;
the eye of the pond;
the wet face of the lily;
the bright, puckered knee of the broken oak;
the red tulip of the fox’s mouth;
the up-swing, the down-pour, the frayed sleeve of the first snow—

so the gods shake us from our sleep.

   — Mary Oliver

Spring is popping out everywhere!

On top of all the creature sightings in our yard and neighborhood, spring is springing! Blossoms are blooming, leaves popping out, and greens are glowing everywhere you look.

It’s a good time to take time out to notice the beauty of the world and be grateful for it. What visitations do you notice in your neighborhood?

Have a beautiful weekend.

May you walk in beauty.