A World-view from My Window

I don’t want to make you jealous, but I have one of the greatest views from the window where I sit to write. Of course, you might not think so. It’s not the ocean or the grand canyon or the mountains – all views I absolutely love. No, it’s a tangled mess of woods. Many of the trees are tall and spindly. Vines have crawled some trees, slowing choking the life out of them. There are trees down and a couple of brush piles (from when I tidy up the woods). There’s a creek in the valley where I sometimes find flat rocks to extend a path in my yard. And I can hike two miles beyond my gate, following deer paths to the Mississippi river.

The very best part, though, is the wildlife. It is their playground, their grocery store, their home. It is a place for flirting and singing, working and playing. It is a good place.  A couple of days ago, a doe and fawn sauntered by, taking their time, nibbling on whatever it is they eat in the winter. I see varieties of woodpeckers and other birds, once even sighting a pileated woodpecker – a rarity in my woods. This is my Netflix, my streaming, my wide-screen TV.

The squirrels are funny. They play and chase and run spirals up tall trees. They are so self-reliant, capable. Right now I am watching a grey squirrel build a nest. Thirty feet he scrambles, mouth full of leaves, to the top of an old, still standing, dead tree. I time him. Sixty-four seconds from the bottom of the tree, to pick up leaves, climb back up, arrange the leaves in the nest and run back down to the bottom. Sixty-four seconds. I need to hire this little guy.

I notice, too, that almost all the creatures are in pairs. Are they beings, like us, who need companionship, family? They look so natural, landing on the same branch, climbing the same tree, flying together to the next good spot for insects and other delicacies. Why do so many of we humans, believe we must do things on our own? Are we such an “advanced” species that we think we are able to do it all ourselves, because we are sure They won’t do it as perfectly as we can. Have you ever seen the nest of an OCD squirrel? I doubt it. Their nests are messy, made of local, available materials and are cozy little places to raise a family. Perfect? I don’t know, but it sounds good enough for me.

These woods are a slice of my world-view. What are you looking at, and what do you see?

There is nothing insignificant in the world. It all depends on the point of view.  -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.  -Epictetus

There is much to learn, grasshopper -