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I used to make fun of “old” people for sitting around and watching birds and other small creatures like chipmunks and squirrels with delight. I couldn’t figure out why they got so much pleasure from filling up bird feeders (usually multiple) and watching them from their windows. The youthful busy version of me felt bad for them because clearly they didn’t have enough to do or any passions that could possibly be more fulfilling than attempting to figure out what new kinds have begun to pop up in their yards. Well I either got “old” or I finally got the secret they were keeping by sipping their coffee and tuning out the world in favor of letting mother nature relax them and take pleasure in the simpler things because now, that’s me!
I can’t pinpoint the day it started happening, but if I’m honest with myself it probably began sometime in the fall of 2016. That was the year I lost both of my grandfathers to cancer within 10 days of each other. I don’t tell this story to make anyone sad or feel bad for me, they both lived great big lives and I can honestly not think of many people who have had the privilege of all 4 of their grandparents being around into their 40’s, so I know I am blessed. If anything, I can honestly feel their presence with me more often as well as their deep unconditional love. It is glorious!
It was around the time of their passing, though, that I started noticing more butterflies, dragonflies, and birds all around our yard. I began thinking it was them visiting me for just a minute or two to let me know that they were still nearby. You can google search the spiritual meaning of finding almost any creature and you will receive a message. When I continued to see 2 cardinals almost every time I looked out the window, I began searching for these meanings. That day the first response said, “The appearance of two cardinals might be a sign that a deceased male loved one is nearby, offering comfort and reassurance.”...well lets just say the water works were hard to contain. To this day, I still see most birds in twos, a sign from them to me letting me know they are both with me, so I don’t have to guess which one is visiting when.
After that, I sort of went back to the business of being busy and getting on with my life, until I was finally given the season of rest during our lockdown back in 2020. That’s when a lot of serendipitous things started happening all at once. I finally had some extra time on my hands, I began a daily meditation practice, a beautiful spring season seemed to last on and on, and I began spending more time outside.
When you finally take a moment to slow down enough, you actually start to become more aware of your surroundings. The simplicity of the morning birds chirping start to enter into your awareness instead of just being background noise. The squirrels chasing each other through the yard makes you giggle. You become delighted by the rabbits coming to chew on your clover in the late afternoon. You even start to spot turtles hiding out under shrubs after a rain shower. Then, once you start to notice and enjoy the “wildlife” hiding out right under your nose, you start to crave more of it.
So you start to go outside more and more, you put out feeders and plant more clover seed, and you close the doggie door in the evenings so the bunnies can feast without fear of being chased. As a reward, the universe gifts you even more joy. The squirrels tickle you by swinging and hanging upside down shaking seeds out of bird feeders for their friends to feast on. Birds start splashing on your pool cover to bathe themselves and you can’t help but laugh. New species start migrating to get into the action and you notice hummingbirds hanging around your hostas for the first time in 10 years. They haven’t left since.
A fun side effect of the joy you get from the simple pleasures of nature, the more nature wants to show itself to you. So much so that you begin to feel its magic again. I can tell you that in the past 5 years, just in my own yard on this simple ½ acre lot on a somewhat regular cul-de-sac, I have seen more interesting things than I ever thought possible.
I have had neighbors pet chickens escape and enjoy the bugs of my front porch garden bed. Deer walk around the neighborhood. We have seen hawks sitting on the ledge of the deck or sometimes atop one of our cars in the driveway. I’ve had a family of ducks splash around in the puddles after a big rain storm inside my fenced in backyard. I’ve seen skinks of all sizes scurry around the garden that has seen many baby bunnies grow to be big enough to leave the comfort of their nests inside of its raised beds. We had a brief encounter with a racoon at our squirrel feeder until we thought better of having a squirrel feeder for just that reason. One time a large crayfish was even spotted walking across our back patio (I don’t live near water).
I’m gifted the pleasure of fireflies in the summers, dragonflies mating on my front walkway, tree frogs on my window panes, squirrels playing games in the fall leaves, all sorts of birds feasting on worms and bugs year round, and baby birds chirping from nests in the hanging flower baskets every spring. Once you make the shift and see them as a gift or special treat just for you, amazing things start to happen.
I have even had my trees get in on the magic of the backyard. I remember having my coffee one overcast morning on my back swing as I so often do, when a gust came from one direction and moved across the yard to the other. For some reason, it sounded like the trees were doing “the wave” as the breeze moved through their leaves and it brought my heart so much joy that I literally clapped and said, “again, again”, like a toddler playing a game of peek a boo with a grown up…well I kid you not, the trees were so pleased that I was pleased, I got an encore performance on demand.
Now, I know most of these “phenomena” are not novel to just me or even that out of the ordinary, but when you start to appreciate them, something inside you begins to change. These things have been happening on this planet everyday all over the place, the difference is that I am now aware of them, and since I am now aware, I can’t unsee it anymore.
You can’t tell anyone that’s not ready to notice these things that they are interesting though. So I apologize to my elders for mocking you in my youth. I just didn’t get it, yet. I wasn’t ready. I am grateful to have gotten to the truth of it so much earlier in my life than I expected to, though. What they knew was never some big secret either, it’s just another version of slowing down and learning to be present. That’s when the world will open itself for you, and I promise you, it is quite a present! 😜