Animals

As I woke up this morning
I stumbled into my kitchen to do my dishes
I was half groggy and half asleep
As I was doing my dishes and looked out the kitchen window
I saw this beautiful blue bird, it was like a violet blue, and it was rust colored
It wasn’t a blue bird
I wasn’t sure what kind of bird it was
It was sitting on top of my patios table closed umbrella just perched
Looking all around just like taking in the scene, the scenery around him

I like to be near the animals – the farm animals.

Maybe it’s a memory of an earlier, quieter, idyllic time. Perhaps it’s not a memory, but a longing for that time.

The animals are so direct. It seems like they present themselves totally, nothing hidden. The sheep and lambs just ask you to feel their wool – deep, curly wool, that you you can sink your hands into. Once one starts “baa’ing,” the others start too, and soon everyone of them is “baa’ing.”

It seemed like it would be our ordinary 30 minute walk around our neighborhood, the same route, like every other day – but far from it this day.

First, as we approached a corner, we suddenly noticed a huge turkey vulture sitting on top of a telephone pole with its back away from us.

It was completely unfazed as we stood there for a few minutes admiring this unusual, beautiful sight.

But nothing prepared us for what we were about to come upon in the next few minutes.

Out of the blue came the hoot of an owl.

Sometimes this happens in my back yard. Sometimes in my neighborhood. Sometimes I think it follows me.

It was a very pleasant surprise - three long, slow, low hoots. A pause, then it repeated. A pause again, then it repeated again.

It calls up in me the feeling of the deep woods. Where there are wise animals, knowing old, huge oaks, and the feel of soft, moist dirt underfoot.

The woods are alive with mystery and quiet surprise. At any moment there could appear a deer, a chipmunk, or a giant, black crow.

When I was little, every year a turtle would slowly wander into our yard. She was a big turtle, maybe about 12 inches across her hard, patterned shell. She was various shades of green, and her legs came out to the sides, showing her little claws when she walked. You could also see her little tail poking out of the back of her shell.

It was interesting to see her long, green neck, and how she could pull her head into her shell. She was such an intriguing creature!

For all you animal lovers, here’s a story that many people have heard of: Francis and the Wolf.

Francis was told there’s a vicious wolf out there, killing sheep, defenseless sheep, and attacking their shepherds. So he goes out into countryside, and the wolf comes up to him, and the wolf is snarling.

He lifts his cross up. The wolf kneels down, prostrates himself, and he sees the reason for the wolf doing what it was doing.

It was the end of fall, and we put out a pumpkin on the front steps for the squirrels to enjoy.

A large chubby squirrel came up and started eating it. He was not shy, or perhaps he was too awestruck by such a wonderful feast appearing for him out of the blue.

In any case, we slowly opened the front door so only the storm door, a full pane of glass, stood between us and him. We were one foot away as he continued to chew his way thru the pumpkin – to the point at which he was able to sit inside it and eat all around himself.

I’m in a concert
I’m being serenaded
I walked out
Listen to this
It’s amazing
The sounds of summer
The warm weather is here
And I am up in New Preston
I was just leaving a great event with friends and I said
Listen, listen to this
Wow you can be entertained anytime during the day by nature
You just walk out and there it is
I love the sound of the serenade
Encore, encore
There is all kinds of music out there
But the music of these peepers, frogs and nature
I just can’t explain it what a concert this is

Rescued hmm
I just gone done watching the animal rescue show
Where they were given awards to people who adopted pets
that had been rescued in different situations
Thinking who rescued who
Did the new owner rescue the dog
Or did the dog rescue the new owner
It was amazing to see
The kinds and sizes and the different categories of animals
From the cutest wiggle
To the nicest smile
To an overbite
To disabilities
To the shortest legs
I mean the categories were just adorable
As were the pets the dogs
And the owners as well

You know who often teaches me
How to live life
Is my dog Missy
My shi tzu
I have to tell you
She really shows me how to embrace the day so often
When I get up no matter what time
What the weather is, whatever the conditions are
She just jumps up and is ready to the greet the day
She eyes me as I move around my home
She looks at what I do
And if she sees me put on my shoes and socks
Immediately she is ready to go
She has no clue where I am going
It could be somewhere not even fun that I am going
She wants to go