Respite in Nature

Oak leaf hydrangeas (can you spot St. Francis?)

It is the natural world that gives me hope for the future and comfort in the present. With so much turmoil in politics and in the news cycle, I find my own peace and renewal in nature. Though I live in an urban neighborhood, I like the presence of parks nearby and a vibrant creek in walking distance (I catch sight of a blue heron down there on occasion). My wife and I try to keep nature as close as possible by planting things in the yard to create a “sacred space,” attracting birds and butterflies and keeping us in touch our living planet.

Indeed, it is our natural environment that is our hope and our sustenance. Though care for the environment has become yet another political struggle, may we ever more seek to preserve the earth that sustains us. 

Last week, I took some measures of encouragement by stopping to listen to the natural world from my own doorstep. I shared one of those moments Saturday with the haiku, “Forest Rain.”

The other two events were documented in short poems as well:

Watching Squirrels

Sitting on my front porch

I watch the squirrels

As they scurry around the telephone pole.

They are fatter this year –

A sign of abundance

In the neighborhood.

         *    *    *

Two signs of hope

Up in the trees along my street

I hear two barred owls calling,

“Who cooks for you!”

And the possum on his itinerant rounds

Makes a front porch visit

To the offering of fruit.

5/21/18                  ~CK

May we continue to find hope each day as we nurture this vibrant and fragile earth.

Trees in the ally for a natural space

Four oclocks and lilies

Lilies with birdbath

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Photos by Charles Kinnaird

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