The gift of Mother Nature

Nature I've experienced while on my neighborhood walks:

Hot, humid weather.... uk!

Freezing, frigid cold weather... whew!

Fresh, clean air after a cool rainstorm... ah!

Brisk, autumn air with that dry leaves smell....mmm!

Bright sun in my eyes....

Fair moonlight to light my path....

Lovely sunsets, wondrous thunderclouds....

Sprinkling rain, fierce winds...

Bare, swaying branches, dry brittle grass. Nests of dried leaves in various crooks of tree limbs. Chunks and sheets of ice, and piles of snow on the sidewalk and grass. Tree buds encased in ice. Smells of flowering trees half a block before I even get to them. Luscious lilacs and peony's in bloom. Buds bursting out of their outer shells. Shoots of spring crocus, and newly planted additions in flower gardens. Freshly cut grass, and weeds growing knee high.

Three baby squirrels scampering around an oak tree and then scurrying back to climb all over their mother. Adolescent squirrels learning how to find food and knowing when to scamper away from a human. Birds chasing squirrels. Rabbits chasing each other. Noticing a stone rabbit sitting in a flower garden, then realizing it was real. Seeing a dignified goose in someones backyard and then realizing it was fake. A mallard duck pair waddling through a front yard.

A grown bird with it's wing stuck in a chain-link fence. I set it free, but it died by the next day. A tiny bald, baby squirrel laying dead on the sidewalk-- probably accidentally fell out of the tree. I brush it into the grass. A bumblebee shell on the sidewalk. Busy, tiny ants running back and forth along their trail across the sidewalk.

Chirping crickets, droning cicadas, baby birds squawking, twittering birds in the trees, and cooing doves on a roof. A blue jay feather, and cawing jays flying from tree to tree. Robins running and stopping to peck at a bug in the grass. Worms out on the sidewalk after a rain. I stop to pick up a live one and put it back in the grass.

Lots of dogs. Some behind fences barking like crazy. Some going by in owners' cars, barking like crazy. Some sitting with owners on their front patios, barking like crazy. Others obviously seeing me (but me not seeing them) through the house window inside... and barking like crazy. Some dogs out walking with their owners-- mostly men owners-- curious. They don't bark like crazy. Those dogs are mostly little and very obedient. They enjoy the air as much as I do. They just sniff at me as they go past.

One dog is big. He never barks. In fact he pants a lot. He and his thin, elderly owner look like Jack Sprat and his wife that could eat no lean. The dog was probably fed what the man didn't eat. He looks like a sausage tube on skinny legs. Poor things, between the skinny gentleman and the fat dog, it seemed like a coin toss which one would kick the bucket first. The man could barely get down the block and he had to stop and wait for the dog. After about 4 months, I do believe that the dog is now able to keep ahead of the owner (except for that occasional enticing smell along the way)!

Just a few of those everyday things I have to remind myself of when I don't want to drag my body out and walk the half hour around my neighborhood. It should be easy. What interesting things to see. The gift of life from Mother Nature alive and well.