One of the joys of where we live is the rich animal life. We live near a river with a reasonable space around our house. We have deer, foxes, coyotes, chipmunks, squirrels, wild turkeys and birds. The view out the window is fascinating and joy creating. A while ago friends from Germany came to visit. Their children spent most of their time on the deck watching the varied life around us. At one point the daughter ran up to us and said, “You live in a zoo!”
Of course the most interesting, abundant life are the birds. All kinds of birds from hummingbirds to red tailed hawks. We feed them, of course. We put out suet year round so they have enough fat to survive winters. Birds seem to be teachable. The books tell you that cardinals won’t eat suet in a standard feeder because they can’t grasp the cage. We call our place the Martin-Zimmer school for birds because our cardinals do eat suet out of the standard cages. The downey woodpeckers sit on the screen and watch us as if to understand us as much as we try to understand them.
When we have a tough time or something is getting us down we stand at the windows and watch the birds for 15 minutes. It lifts the gloom and lets joy back in.
With love and joy.
There is nothing more satisfying and grounding then nature. We are mean to be in contact with nature every day. It is also a great way to gain clarity as well. Where I live in Arizona I am blessed with waking up in the morning to about 10 different bird calls. I usually count them and focus on how many I can hear. When I moved to Mexico I was living right on the beach; an intention of mine. It took a while to get used to the surf but I did not notice I missed the sounds of of the birds. When I came back to Arizona I was excited once a gain to be awoken in the twilight hours by the birds. You are fortunate to have nature out your window for clarity and connection.
It sounds as if you live in the same area I do. We have the same animals (minus the Wild Turkeys) and birds (add Blue Herons).
We see the deer a lot, but rarely get to see the foxes. I only wish we didn’t hear and see the Coyotes as much as we do. And the birds are lovely … one of my favorite things to watch. Living in a place where there is an abundance of wild life is definitely soothing to the soul.
You are so fortunate to have the opportunity to be so close with nature. Thank you for sharing