As we merge into winter, turning the chapter on a bitter fall, my thoughts return to gratitude, spurred by nature.
…When daylight dawned, I opened my bedroom window shades, turned on the porch’s twinkle lights, returned to my warm bed and faced the world outside. I was startled by the thin, dark, naked trees that stood straight and tall, backdropped by a cold, colourless sky. Winter, they announced, was near. But, then, a Tufted Titmouse flew in, perching on the nearly barren branches of my backyard dogwood—its few remaining leaves, seasoned the color of Christmas, dangled. A chubby, deep red daddy Cardinal took its place and was quickly joined by a brilliant colored Blue Jay. When they flew away, a woodpecker took their place, clutching an upper branch with his claw feet and jackhammering his pointy beak into a slender branch. One more, I can’t recall the species, made five of them who visited in the matter of minutes. No bird seed from me available.
I lay there, my eyes starting to brim, my heart swelling. In gratitude.
Hours later, as daylight waned, we took a walk, wrapping ourselves in our sweaters to shut out the descending cold. Through the woods, on the hill behind our condo, I caught a glimpse of their dark, slender, four-legged bodies. Five of them. One, two, three….Two adults with perked ears and two wee ones. A family of deer. I stood and stared. They stood and stared back. And then a portly red tailed hawk with impressive underwings, the colour of warm cream and cocoa, landed in a nearby tree. He fluttered his brawny appendages a time or two and took off.
I couldn’t help. but feel blessed. 
In gratitude…
