Wednesday, June 24, 2009

All Creatures Great and Small



"My profession is always to be alert to find God in nature,
to know God's lurking places to attend to all the oratorios
and the operas in nature."
~ Henry David Thoreau


It was early one fine summer morning. Rick and I were sitting on the patio sipping our first cup of coffee, enjoying the show of birds as they swooped in for a share of their favourite breakfast cereal, when one of our resident tree swallows flew by and perched on Rick's white garden hat which was on his head at the time. Apparently tree swallows like white feathers with which to build their nests, so maybe Mr. Swallow thought Rick's hat was a big feather. Alas, we didn't have the camera handy, but what a treat to see him right there within arm's reach. How pretty his iridescent feathers as they glimmered in the sunlight.

Most of the birds who come to feed in our garden are getting used to us sitting nearby. Red-winged blackbirds will swoop in with a hearty chereep. And, as they fill their beaks to feed their hungry brood, they coyly peek around the side of the feeder as if to ensure we're not sneaking up on them.

Which reminds me, one morning last week I found a large bumblebee lumbering along on my living room floor. Although it had found its way in through the open back door, it obviously couldn't find its way out. It lay there as if stunned. Scooping it up with a tumbler glass and piece of paper, I took it out into the garden, hoping it would recover. The tiny creature crawled off the paper onto my finger, his little body heaving as if to catch its breath. He sat a moment, I said a little prayer for him in case he was injured, and then suddenly he spread his tiny wings and was gone.

I love these encounters with nature's tiny creatures -- they are such an amazing and beautiful part of our world. Don't let their size fool you ... sometimes the best pleasures come in tiny packages.
So many wild places around us are being razed to the ground for 'development'..... and rather than going into a lament or a rant about it (which we are prone), we try to create a little haven in our corner of the world for a few of these, God's smallest creatures.


Wishing you glimpses of heaven in unexpected places,
Brenda

10 comments:

  1. I agree about the little safe haven for the critters. I tell my HH we have invaded their space. I was pleased to see all the bees around my coreopsis today. Blessings
    QMM

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  2. We love to watch the birds in our garden too and one or two of them seem quite used to us and come qite close. I remember once years ago finding a bumblebee on the floor of our conservatory and it seemed to be in a sorry state. I put it outside and then got a few grains of sugar and put quite close to it. It made for it almost immediately and appeared to feed on it a while. Then it too spread its wings anf flew away. A x

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  3. I love all the little snippets of wisdom nature leaves for us! There's nothing like a backyard excursion to refresh the soul.

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  4. fun post, glad the bee didn't stink you...lol!

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  5. I love those special moments with nature! How cool, a birdie on your hat.

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  6. I love when safe havens are created for the little critters. My mother has helped to create an appreciation for birds from her little porch and many bird feeders. I can just picture the two of you seated with your coffee, in the backyard.

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  7. Sounds like you have a wonderful little garden to relax and enjoy the outdoors!

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  8. Tell your husband that it is the highest compliment to have a bird land on your hat! He must be nice!
    This is my first visit to your blog! It's happy. I like it!

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  9. Ahhhh, nature at it's finest. In your own backyard, early morning, with your loved one. surrounded by nature.
    I love all my birds. We even have a nest with eggs!

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  10. Thanks for sharing with us this inspiring post.

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To My Beautiful Readers,

Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same. ~ Franz Peter Schubert

Thank you so much for leaving your 'footprint' here in my comment box. I do appreciate you taking a moment to share your thoughts today.

Brenda xo