Category: Nature

Categories
Animals Good Nature People

Similarities

Lately, I’ve been noticing stories about animals and insects and fish and the things they do that are just like humans.

Bumblebees enjoy playing with wooden balls. Goldfish become depressed if they are alone in a small, uninteresting fishbowl. Elephants use their trunks for tickling. Octopi dream when they sleep.

Yesterday, I saw a video of a mother chimpanzee reuniting with her newborn baby. The baby was born via c-section, and the mother hadn’t yet seen or touched it. It’s possible she believed it was dead and gone.

When the mother realized her baby was alive and within arm’s reach, she responded in a way that human mothers (and fathers) will understand. Watch here (you might want to have a few tissues handy): https://youtu.be/1t0Aa7v0sFI

Here’s to having fun, building relationships, learning new things, giving and receiving love, and all the many delightful similarities we humans share with other creatures.

Categories
Animals Life Nature

Icy

Yesterday, I watched a video of a polar bear making its way across thin ice.

The bear lay down on its belly and used its front paws and forearms to calmly propel itself forward. There was no kicking or clawing or flailing. Instead, it held its head high while moving, using belly heat and fur to create a slick path for gliding.

The bear didn’t hesitate upon encountering the thin ice. It simply moved into position and kept going. Once across, it resumed its four-legged stride without missing a beat. Just another day, out in the wild, dealing with reality.

Here’s to the instinctive wisdom of polar bears.


Categories
Animals Nature

Joey

It appears that we have a family of opossums living in our backyard shed.

Several times, my husband and I’ve seen a full-grown opossum walking on the fence top, away from the shed and toward our garden, in the early evening. My husband suggested that we put apple slices in the yard, which made sense to me. We reasoned that opossums are helpful in keeping bugs away, but we’d also like to hang on to any tomatoes and peppers that survive the summer’s blazing heat. A tasty snack could be a win/win for humans and marsupials.

Then this morning, we found a small opossum in our trash can not far from the shed. Based on size, it is not far from babyhood. We gently tipped the can on its side and placed a few apple slices on the path to entice baby opossum out.

A baby opossum is called a joey. As of this writing, our Joey is still in the trash can, unwilling to leave. I suppose staring humans makes it nervous, so we’ll leave Joey alone for a bit and hope that it makes its way back home. And now, on trash days, we’ll be sure to check the cans before taking them to the curb.

Today’s cuppa summarizes our initial feelings about finding Joey and, perhaps, Joey’s feelings about being discovered. There’s no reason we can’t get along, however, as long as we share a few apple slices and enough space for roaming.

Categories
Good Nature

Morning

Today started with a view of mountains and trees framing misty fog rising from the water.

The only sounds I heard were chirps and whistles of birds in the trees and an occasional rooster crow from a neighbor’s yard.

As I watched, the sun rose, gradually bathing everything with colors and warmth.

Here’s to the gift of a beautiful morning.

Categories
Animals Life Nature

Coyotes

Early this morning, before the sun was up, I heard the sound of coyotes, yipping and yapping and howling. They weren’t directly outside of my house, but they were close.

It’s the second time this week I’ve heard them. So, we are now at Coyotecon level 5, meaning that the pups are supervised in the yard, even for short periods of time, and the cats aren’t permitted out at all.

Most likely, the full-on daytime hours are safe; coyotes aren’t typically active when the sun is up. And, we live in a typical suburban neighborhood, with houses and fenced yards and concrete sidewalks. It’s unlikely we’d encounter a carnivorous hunter in the middle of the day. Nevertheless, a hungry coyote can’t be expected to follow the rule book.

I don’t fault coyotes for doing their coyote thing. But – coyote howls are creepy. They echo and fade, casting a warning, sending a message to those in the vicinity: fear us. Run. We have your scent; we are on your trail. I can allow for instinctive animal behavior while at the same time acknowledging the need for human precaution.

Here’s to doors and walls and the safety they provide. Here’s also to vigilance and wisdom, to watchful decision-making and careful awareness. All may be necessary when the night is full of howls.

Categories
Life Nature

Weeds

It’s nice, having a backyard garden. We ate some of our tomatoes last night at dinner, and I’ve been adding kale to various recipes during the past few weeks (the only good kale is cooked kale). Watching the plants sprout and grow and offer their bounty is rewarding and fun.

The thing is, however, that the planned plants aren’t the only ones that grow in the garden. Left to its own devices, a bit of dirt, combined with some rain and sunshine, can quickly become a home for random stalks and leaves, bits of nature taking over the neatly-arranged rows and productive patterns.

And so, it is necessary to engage in the never-ending process of weeding.

Pull some here, pick a few there. Some days, the end result is a clean garden, nice and neat everywhere. Most days, it’s only a small patch, one area under control for the time being, soon to be back where it started but weed-free at the moment.

I confess to feeling a little guilty when pulling the weeds. They’re simply growing where nature planted them. I’m the one who’s ending their journey, telling them that they’re not worthy. And, I quite like some of them, especially those that flower and climb, offering bright cascades of green and lush tangles of color. They remind me to be humble, as they quietly grow without my involvement. I am an observer, a participant – not a creator.

In the garden, however, coexistence doesn’t work very well. The weeds use up the resources. They block the light and invade the space, preventing the vegetables from growing properly. If the goal is tomatoes and cucumbers and basil and peppers, there must be a choice. I must take action. The weeds must go.

Here’s to gardens and plants and the fine line between wild and free, planned and productive. May we all have the good fortune of enjoying the special things they each have to offer.

Categories
Animals Good Nature

Otters

This morning, right before I woke up, I was dreaming that I was in the water, surrounded by sea otters. They were floating all around me, quietly, on their backs. Nothing more, nothing else – we were all just floating there, together, gently bobbing in the waves.

I suspect I dreamed this dream because of an article I read yesterday about sea otter sleeping habits. Otters often sleep on land, but sometimes, they also sleep in the water, on their backs. When they do, they wrap themselves in kelp strands and (here’s the part that makes me go squeeeeee) hold hands with other otters. This keeps them together; they avoid drifting apart and away during their nap time.

My dream was very peaceful. Perhaps the next time I’m feeling anxious or concerned about something, I’ll try to remember the feeling of gently floating in the water with all the otters surrounding me; the calm quiet and soft knowledge that I was not alone, that I would not drift away.

Here’s to sea otters and their simple yet smart sleeping habits. And, here’s to tranquil dreams of bobbing waves and feelings of warm, connected togetherness.

Categories
Life Nature

Bounty

“For ourselves, who are ordinary men and women, let us return thanks to Nature for her bounty by using every one of the senses she has given us.” – Virginia Woolf

Categories
Life Nature

600

Yesterday, I read an article about Greenland Sharks.

Apparently, Greenland Sharks can live a very, very long time. Hundreds of years, in fact. Researchers have discovered one shark that they estimate is 600 years old. They’ve found others that appear to be in the 200 and 300 year-old range.

There’s no definite conclusion as to why Greenland Sharks have such longevity. It’s likely that their habitat, cold and deep water, plays a factor. But there’s obviously more at play, something in their genetic makeup that influences their lifespan.

Just as humans have a natural expiration date genetically codified in our DNA, Greenland Sharks are pre-programmed to survive to a specific range of years. Real-world living and medical circumstances can affect the actual lifespan, of course; there’s no guarantee of reaching a certain age. Assuming good health and safety, however, most humans can expect a lifetime of between 70-90 years. And, it seems, most Greenland Sharks can expect a lifetime of centuries.

During the past 600 years, humans have formed countries, invented automobiles and airplanes and spaceships, discovered cures for illnesses, and learned how to preserve an image of a moment in time and then send it to millions of other people with a simple click of a button.

I’m haunted by the thought of sharks swimming unceasingly through the deep, dark, cold water while all of this happened on the land above them. I’m also a tiny bit jealous of these sharks. I don’t want to be a Greenland Shark, but it would be nice to have the potential to live as long as they do.

That’s not the way things work, however. So, instead of focusing on the question of why humans don’t also get 600 years, I’ll be grateful for the ones I’ve had. And, I’ll do my best to make the most of the years, however many they are, that are (hopefully) left ahead of me.

Categories
Life Nature

Almonds

Not long ago, we experienced some bizarre winter weather where I live – heavy snow and freezing temperatures that went on for the better part of a week. An unexpected outcome of that situation is that some of the plants and trees that don’t typically thrive in this area are now…thriving.

For example, we have an almond tree in our backyard. I didn’t know it was an almond tree, however, because it had never produced almonds.

A few years ago, during the spring blooming season, I thought it might be a peach tree. But after some research, I realized it’s an almond tree. I also resigned myself to the fact that it would be an almond tree in name only. We don’t usually have the type of sustained freezing cold weather that is necessary for almond production.

So you can imagine my happy surprise when I discovered that, this year, the tree is bursting with almonds. There are so many that some of the branches have started to dip from the weight. The limbs hang over part of our garden, creating a concentrated spot of shady coolness.

It’s likely that the almonds won’t be ready to harvest until August or September. Between the summer heat and the scurry of squirrels living in my backyard trees, I’m a bit concerned about how things will ultimately turn out. Hopefully, there will be a positive ending to this adventure. In the meantime, it’s fun to watch the almonds grow.

Here’s to Mother Nature. She sure knows how to keep things interesting.