walking on soft grass
breathing in fresh air
punctuated by bird songs
gentle breeze tickling my hair
 
beneath a clear blue sky
surrounded by many a leafy tree
I revel in the peace
that pervades all around me

I smile and rejoice
at my utter lack of sorrow
how fortunate I am!
full of hopes for the morrow

I count my blessings
and watch the setting sun
quickly sending a note of thanks
to the Omniscient One

Wonders never cease - Squirrel story

There are two couples of squirrels who live nearby.  Of course they are regular visitors to our bird feeders.  They love to eat the suets (which are meant for the birds) neglecting the grains which are especially served up for them. 

One of the couples intimidates the other, more brown looking couple.  But the chased are extremely resilient.  They run away, but momentarily.  Almost immediately they are back, gnawing from where they left off.  

The squirrels do various kinds of asanas.  Of the ten steps in suryanamaskara, they have mastered three of them!!  But I don't see them being toned even by a millimeter!  O well!

They can be hungry through out the day.  Mornings are especially ravenous times. And in the mornings while they are busy eating their grub, they are also entertained by watching me do the yogasanas; similar to music/dance shows in restaurants!! 

Wonders never cease - An ode to Fathers

I know I am a little premature during the year in celebrating 'dadhood' since it was Mom's day yesterday.  But when I saw the two dedicated dads who were caringly feeding their fledglings, I decided to dedicate this little paragraph to them!

The Northern Cardinal and Downy Woodpecker are two of the many birds who have nested nearby.  Though we cannot actually see their nests, the presence of the young ones is obvious these days as they slowly venture out to explore. Usually it is the older birds who regularly visit our bird feeds.  

One particular cardinal who can be identified by an ash colored patch over his right eye, used to be a regular visitor along with his 'beloved'. 

Each and every time that they come to feed, usually within seconds of one of them landing on the grass, the 'gentleman' gives a little grain in her mouth, his way of showing his love!! It is such a endearing sight indeed!  The past few days we noticed that he came to feed in close intervals, and we zeroed in on the reason.  A young one was perched, safely at a distance, waiting for his dear dad to feed him.  And he was such a good 'non-fussy' eater too!  There he was patiently waiting for his food, and obediently took the soft masticated grains offered to him!!  Today he too ventured on his own in the 'adult' feeding area and was awkwardly pecking on the grains! 

 Then there was the downy baby, I saw him today for the first time when he was sprawled on our patio.  He was awkward, unable to hold his wings in place, they were plopped next to him.  In his childhood curiosity he tried a couple of times to enter through the closed glass doors, (not hurting himself I hope).  There again feeding on his favourite suet was his dad and this little baby was content to wait for daddy dear.

Indeed I felt very privileged to see this exhibition of 'matrubhaava'.(yeah though these were in fact 'pitarau')

We love you young ones and we hope that the grains that we are fortunate enough to feed you with will make you strong and magnificent just like your parents. 

Wonders never cease - camouflage

Camouflage in reefs
The creatures in the reefs indeed seem to be masters of camouflage.  

     The sea horse which hides among 'coral pens' and the innumerable types of crustaceans which get 'lost' among the bright colourful reefs.  When the tiny fish and creatures hide beneath the reefs on seeing a small school of 'thugs', one of the thugs goes beneath which scares the hiding little ones into swimming above, where they are promptly made 'biriyani' by the waiting thugs!

     One type of fish (unfortunately I do not remember its name) swims vertically(!) among the reef.  In that vertical form they look like a stagnant reef, they swim horizantally only when they have to move from one part of the reef to another.  

Spectacular!

Wonders never cease - The American Beaver

American Beaver

     I have always thought that beavers look cute with their cute little 'beaver teeth'.   Beyond that I didn't really know anything about them till about a day ago.  I saw this wonderful documentary on beavers which was so interesting and informative.

     After watching that documentary my admiration and 'respect' for this little animal has indeed increased manifold.

     What a hardworking creature it is!  Truly amazing!

     How much of work it does with its little sharp clawed hands(?)!!  I was even more amazed to know that beavers bring down small trees!  Whew, those teeth must be something!

     And how well the family cooperates to bring about building the dam and the nest.  Apparently, beavers may pair for life.  The female gives birth every spring and the older siblings live on with the parents till they are about two years of age. After that period they go out into the world to search for a mate and a nice spot to build their nest.  

     It was particularly interesting to watch how one established family was seeking to bring reinforcements for their home.  Since the beaver would be vulnerable to bring logs by land (and of course it would be easier to float the logs rather than drag them), they cleverly built dams, changed the course of the lake and built canals to where the trees were!  "The trees won't come to the river but the river can go to the trees"!  And the female (queen she is called, I think) beautifully stocks up for the winter.  She stores the twigs/branches in such a place near the nest that they would be cool but not freeze up in the tough Wisconsin winter!

     What a creation!  I want to shake its beautiful, clawed, hardworking, talented and efficient hands, and say "Well done!!"

A sign from heaven

A sign from heaven!  That's what it was!
A perfect 'tick' as if someone in the heavens above was saying 'yes' to set right my confusion.  Not that I had any pressing issues to confuse me!!! But good to have this divine sign, just in case, to reiterate that I am, after all, right!
Being a teacher, I know the value of this 'tick' mark.  Tick, tick, tick, all answers right, full marks!! yay!
I could feel the thrill and excitement of the student who had answered well in an exam and was awaiting results.
Again, not that I had written any exams, but good to have divine approval! Thank you God!