Hummingbird Moth on Monarda – Photo: L. Weikel

An Appreciation Rut                                                           

Who’d have thought such a thing could be possible?

I’ll admit, it’s not something I’ve thought much about. However, a couple experiences I’ve had over the past two days have proved to me that it is indeed possible to discover – often unexpectedly – that as grateful as you may be with the many delights in your life, a change in perspective can lead to the experience of even more joy.

As you know if you’ve been reading my latest posts, I’ve become smitten with my Fish Crows. I’ve been trying to get closer to them (to take a couple photos) as the parents mentor their fledges, mostly in the branches of our maple tree and sometimes in the middle of our crushed stone driveway, where they teach them how to crack open peanuts. In spite of the fact that I’m the one that keeps the peanut coil filled, they still get spooked when I try to edge closer. This was the best I could get today:

Magic!

I happened to be out and about this morning and got the urge to pay a visit to the hostel where I’ve held many Listening Retreats, as well as the retreats for the entire two year Merkabah Medicine Program. There are a lot of wonderful memories associated with that place and the Spirits of that Land.

Just being at this energetically rich place, I encountered magic. Butterflies of many colors languidly feasting on the nectar of a massive butterfly bush. Six, seven, eight hummingbird moths hovering over the Monarda and drinking deeply from its many blossoms.

I had to wonder if some of the creatures were gathering so abundantly precisely because there’s far fewer humans hanging around on a regular basis. They feel safer now to drink from the blossoms slowly and deeply.

This brief visit helped me appreciate the current situation involving that land with a shifted attitude.

An even greater example of ‘appreciation rut’ and how it impacts my life was brought home when Karl let me know he was going to be home much later than he expected last night.

In a dual bid to both outrun the impending rise in temperatures that’s going to visit our area starting tomorrow, as well as just give Karl a pleasant surprise after a long week, I decided to mow all the lawn while he was away. Normally, he does ‘the back’ (behind our small barn) and I do the ‘front’ – which is what you often see in the photos I share, especially of our birds.

A Land of Faerie

Well, I always seem to forget the utter faerie-like quality of nature’s expression back behind our barn. There are so many places for all sorts of animals and other creatures to flitter, roam, play, nest, and nestle. It is an exquisite oasis of sacred nature: An Lar Naofa, as our dear friends from Sli an Crois, Karen Ward and John Cantwell, dubbed our land.

As I looked up from my path and eased up my intensity (born from a desire to complete the task before Karl returned, weary, from a road trip), I saw our property from almost the exact opposite perspective, literally, from what I see when I sit on our porch. At that moment, I peered through willow leaves and brilliant purple wildflowers to see our barn basking in the deep golden orange of the setting sun.

It was in that moment that I realized that, as much as I love, appreciate, and celebrate the abundance of beauty that I enjoy from the perspective of my porch – an entirely different flavor of natural beauty had been patiently awaiting my awareness and celebration.

(T-854)