A Day in the Garden with the Birds

I prepared the potato and onion beds for planting these last days. It was a great gift to find a couple of meals worth of potatoes that had over wintered in the ground perfectly. Today I found the last leeks in a tangle at the far corner of the onion bed. The sweet smell of soil, the hard crunch of rocks under the shovel and then bend to pull a few weeds and breathe out gratitude about this wonderful chore, I love these piles of dirt collected on bed rock. I’m as twitterpated as the birds I hear singing their hearts out about the wonder and joy, the glory of life around us.

Grateful I am for the sound of the male hummingbird announcing himself to the world as a suitor ready and able after he’s climbed straight into the air a hundred feet and more. I have to stop and watch as he goes straight up to arc and swoop down making his distinctive ta-da before doing it all again. What a show, I’m swooning and I wish him well with his own kind. A male red winged blackbird is sounding his arrival song at the bird feeder with his female close behind. A red bellied sap sucker is drumming his availability on the light stand above the garage; every female for miles around can hear him. The deep blue Stellars Jays are trying to chase the red winged blackbirds from the bird feeder with raucous caws that sound like crows. Something, probably the cats have disturbed the chipmunks in their mating escapades and they’re scolding can be heard in the distance. Grateful I am for this gentle natural soundscape.

I chose to focus today on the mantra I love and approve of myself. After a while of such it felt right to move into I love and approve of the whole world. After another while a note of doubt sounded…did I really love and approve of the whole world? That note did not feel right and I remember that most negative thinking stems from ego and I knew that ego was attempting to circumvent a loss of control. I returned to feeling into loving and approving of the whole world and felt how vital it is to hold to this mantra; this viewpoint of the world can and will recreate anything that doesn’t serve the good of the whole without violence, without fear.

Sometimes, in order to remain present and at peace with what is, I have to ask these two questions; am I coming from love around this or am I coming from fear. The easiest choice can be the one that feels good and works as well for the good of the whole.

Blessed be!