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Falling Into Autumn

Sitting in the autumn sunshine in front of my house, eating my lunch as the neighbor's cat "Shadow" looks on, I shoo away a bee from the presence of my sandwich and get to thinking…suddenly thinking the way a child might…how many bees have I met in my life? How many have I not shooed away, but allowed to light upon my arm and rest a spell?

 

Bee

 

How many spiders have I met? How many have I carried, gingerly, from the bathroom or bedroom to the porch; or if I'm feeling extra generous, carried further to the garden and, held by a silken strand, lowered him to a shrub or plant? "Hello Mr. Spider", and he sat down beside her…

 

Spider

 

I think it's the changing of the seasons that stimulates this heightened awareness of nature. It makes me pay attention. Sit up and take notice. For me, Summer and Winter are the extreme seasons. They can stop you in your tracks, force you to hunker down, whether from being too hot to move, or too cold. But Spring and Autumn, my favorites, allow us to move about with inspiration and keen senses. They stimulate a certain activity. Our habits change a little, and the creatures around us change their routines as well. I've noticed the busy squirrels, deer, and butterflies. The birds have had a lot to talk about. Everything feels so alive.

 

Deer

 

In my 45 years I would guess that I've carried about 30 spiders out of the house; maybe another 10 out of the car. I've probably sat and observed a couple dozen more. I've guided many a fly, wasp, and bee out through an open door or window. And even a few birds and mice. But I've only let a precious few bees sit on my extended index finger for a visit; maybe 7 or 8.

 

Pa060009

 

One of my favorite encounters with creatures was about 22 years ago, when I was pregnant with my Jesse, and I camped out on a beach north of Santa Cruz. When I woke in the morning there were dozens of little wild rabbits scurrying about the dunes and cliffs. It was otherworldly, and magical.

What are some of your memories of visits with wild things? Also, I'd love to read anything you want to share about the seasons.

 

Pa060011
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3 responses to “Falling Into Autumn”

  1. Selena Avatar
    Selena

    When I was 10 or so in the middle of winter, I went for a walk on our farm. I found that our pond was frozen over. On the pond near the shore sat a very frozen and deadish looking frog. I went down to him and saw that he was very thin looking and very cold. With my knitted hat, I picked him up to warm him. It didn’t seem to work so I took him back to my house and left him under a lamp on my father’s desk. Being small farmers, having a frog in the house wasn’t too abnormal. Slowly the frog began to get fat and frog looking again and eventually made sweet frog sounds. After a few hours I took him to a small stream with fresh water. Before I placed him down I gingerly placed a kiss on his head just in case he was a prince. The next morning the frog was gone. This is a true story and one of my daughter’s favorites to hear. And yes, I think I did get my prince in the end although somehow that frog must have swam to England since my dh is from there.

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  2. Barb Avatar
    Barb

    Oh boy, so many…
    -my dad finding a newborn fawn and bringing it home (the mother had been killed). We named her Bambi and she would follow my mom pushing the carriage when my brother was a baby, she wore a huge red ribbon during hunting season and finally when she became an adult, she was taken to Fundy National Park in New Brunswick (we heard she eventually had twins). I cried and cried the day she left, but I still have the old colour-tinted photo of her.
    -caring for more baby birds (one a Peregrine falcon a neighbour’s cat grabbed) and injured snakes than I can count.
    -mom letting my brother and me keep preying mantis (plural!) on a huge plant in the livingroom and spending hours catching flies and feeding them with tweezers…lasted weeks until we got fed up of picking fly wings off of the carpet below the mantis.
    -having a crow land on one of the kids’ heads…he stayed with us for over a week and would get up to mischief every time we turned around…grabbed the mail from my son’s hand one day and flew up into a tall cedar tree with it…wouldn’t leave the kids alone for a minute when they were outside. We figured he must have been someone’s pet at one time…some of the words he said turned the air blue and he even made the local paper!
    -watching a dragonfly emerge from its casing after crawling up onto a bullrush at a friend’s cottage…it pumped fluid into its folded wings, waited until it hardened and then flew off…pure magic!
    -having a hummingbird hover for several long seconds two inches from my nose and another that kept flying in and out of the mist when I was watering plants
    -feeding the chickadees from our hands during long cold Ontario winter days
    I could go on and on…connection to Mother Earth and nature continually warms my heart and soul and I made sure to pass this connection on to my children.

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  3. Sylvie Avatar
    Sylvie

    Thank you Selena and Barb for your beautiful, beautiful stories. They are fixed in my mind.
    Sylvie 🙂

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