Gently is the going through grass that nests the bird.
May is a month for grass. Like many, I let it grow. Plenty of time for mowing later. Dandelion seeds feed finches and daisies feed my soul.
As May edges to a close, for the first time in weeks I carve a path or two through the green, white, yellow and blue. After weeks of rain we have an hour or two of dry-enough to do this.
I make my way to compost grass cuttings through the much grown shrubs to be as startled as the fledglings I surprise. Why was I not prepared for this? Of course this forgotten corner would be an ideal nesting site. After a month of dry no-grow followed by a month of too-wet-too-cut (and don't want to) why did I assume this place beyond my sight for weeks would be as I left it before? It doesn't even look the way I remember it. The myriad of life forms that inhabit here have blossomed and spread in my absence. Its gorgeous, its green and I find another place to compost the cuttings.
Of course I have delighted in watching the various birds gather grubsy food from the grass. I have vaguely wondered where they are actually nesting... but the sudden sight of two terrified fledglings is a reminder: whose garden is this anyway?!
Going out and about beyond the garden is a bit the same. Much has grown beyond our sight. What delusion is this that it would be anything like as before? Gently we may carve our path through territory which is not just of human making. Gently we may be reminded that much life inhabits this world beyond our immediate perception. As we look beyond what other humans show us we may just glimpse an essence of Life we have all but forgotten about in our self-absorbed past year.
Gently is the going out and coming home to the web of life we have no place to control.
Gently is the standing in the light as it pours down between the parting clouds.
Will we dash inside again in case the clouds rain down on us or will we risk it and soak up these solar rays? No judgement; the choice is yours. We each are quite capable of listening to our own true voice, so do as you are bid by your soul and no other.
Gently is the going.
