The nuthatches have returned to the feeder. No, it’s not quite as epic as the swallows returning to Capistrano, but in my little corner of the world it’s a pretty big deal. On Saturday I restocked the bird feeder for the first time since early summer. The birds had developed a fairly voracious appetite, emptying the feeder about every two to three days or so. So, I took it down for a while and they all went away. By that time, most of the birds that visited were little sparrow type birds–the nuthatches had long since stopped visiting. It took a day for the birds to discover that I’d rehung the feeder, and when they did it was the little sparrows who returned, fighting and bickering with one another for placement at one of the feeder openings. But on Sunday the nuthatches returned, frequently and more than one bird. It makes me smile even to type this.
You can perhaps tell that this is an evening to reflect on simple blessings. Sometimes when my mind and heart are overwhelmed with the various complexities of life, taking time to appreciate something simple is a wise course of action, So tonight I celebrate simple things like the return of the nuthatches to the feeder and the coolness of the autumn air this morning as I walked the dog, falling leaves crunching underfoot. The autumn season invites us to reflect. It is harvest season: a time for bringing in, reaping the harvest from what has been sowed early in the year and tended throughout the summer. This is as true for career, business ideas, investments, etc. as it is for crops and gardens and orchards. It is a time to be grateful for all that has transpired during the year and to prepare for the long sleep of winter.
The days are shorter–now I wake in the dark for my journal writing and will soon drive home from work also in the dark. This is my least favorite thing about autumn, yet it too is part of the quieting, slowing down process that occurs during winter. I have a friend who dislikes autumn pretty intensely and is not a big fan of winter. She says everything starts dying and she finds the whole thing rather grim. And I suppose it appears that everything is “dying,” in that it is no longer vibrant and green and photosynthesizing. On the surface everything appears to be dead but is often, like some animals, in a kind of hibernation. Everything slows down turns inward but is far from dead. Fall and winter are optimum times for us humans to quiet down, turn inward, save our reserves for what wants to emerge and burst forth in the spring. I’m clearly feeling very metaphorical this evening, but that’s what autumn does for me.
I am grateful for every lesson that nature provides me, from the changing of the seasons to the return of the nuthatches to the feeder. Simple blessings, basic and beautiful. These are the things that sustain me when everything around me is chaotic and complex. May I always find space and time for appreciation of the beauty that is literally all around me. May I find the beauty even in places that appear “dead” or “blighted” or “lifeless.” For there is life everywhere, I simply have to look for it. May it be so.
White-Breasted Nuthatch (allaboutbirds.org)
