The Birds & The Bees

No, not those ones! Though I do have thoughts on those too.... But that's not what this post is about.

I realized today just how lucky I am to live where I do. See this view? Click it to make it bigger, if you must:



That red roof in the lower middle-right-hand side is where I live. And that is basically my view!

This afternoon, being a wonderfully sunny day (again!), I took my camera, bird book and pencil and walked up among the proteas in the foreground of this pic to take advantage of the last bit of sunshine. I sat down on a rotting log near a patch of weeds alive with birds, and became still. Within minutes I was surrounded by birds going about their business, small creatures rustling in the grass. All this just a 5 minute walk from my front door.

I realized again that if you are not a threat to nature, nature is not afraid of you. Birds stopped by an arm's length away. That rustling in the grass turned out to be a lizard who climbed my log and looked at me. I came close to ending up in the middle of an aerial mating display as two Karoo Larks dived and clapped their wings almost on my kneecaps.

I'm a child of nature. My mom raised us to notice our surroundings, to respect them and to learn from them. I've grown into environmental awareness through research and interest over recent years. To simply be still and watch the natural world at work is amazing.

Yup, I love where I live. Birds, bees, mice, nature, and the rhythm of the planet are there for the looking.

Pity there are some who never lift their eyes to see...