Birds as messengers

Photograph by Medford Taylor

Last evening Jack and I were driving to a friend’s house for dinner and had gotten into  ”discussion” about moving. Jack owns an antique store/gallery and has been there for 20 years. I want to believe that he can close his shop, or sell it, and move easily to a new town/life, and he says that he wants to and yet, when things don’t seem to be moving (at all), I find myself blaming him for dragging his heels. As much as I know (in my head) not to blame others, and that all answers are within, and how disempowering it is to look to someone else to make things happen, I still do it…

Last night, it was under the guise of, “I’m trying to be helpful here.”…giving him all sorts of, what I considered to be, helpful suggestions and he was sitting there mute. I could feel the frustration building inside me, (which should have been a clue to check myself but I didn’t), so I pressed in even more.

Suddenly he said, “I just saw a peacock back there!” I thought he was talking about a sign with a peacock on it, or some other dumb thing, and just said “What? Where?”, “Turn back, there really is a peacock walking on the side of the road.”

I turned around, a little begrudgingly, and sure enough, on the side of the road was a peacock. We got out of the car to see if we could get near it. Where on earth did a peacock come from? I tried to call it to me, and had visions of myself sitting in the backseat holding it…bringing it some  place…where?… as Jack walked around behind it.  At that moment it flew right over the top of my head. We tried to find it but could not.

That has to be one of most unusual occurences of my life and I knew that it was a sign. I was more than a little stunned as we got back in the car and said, “Maybe that was a sign that if we can see a peacock in Rupert, VT, something so impossible as this, then Jack Metzger could move.” We both laughed, but I also appreciated how that startling bird helped me to re-direct my own critical thinking.

When we arrived at our friend’s home, and they were introducing us to good friends of theirs, Judi and Roger, and we told them what we just saw, Judi said with a big smile on her face, “That is a sign!” …I loved this response and knew instantly that we would hit it off.

Driving home from a very lovely, magical evening, I looked up the spiritual significance of Peacock and it said, “The call (of the peacock) has a kind of laughter quality to it, as if the peacock is a reminder to laugh at life.” pp 182 Animal Speak

“Be grateful for luck. Pay the thunder no mind – listen to the birds. And don’t hate nobody“. Eubie Blake

This weekend it might be fun to “listen to the birds” or watch them…see how they show up to help…I would also love any stories that you would like to share about birds in your life.

Read Full Post »

Welcome Home

The "Wonder"kitten now has his own Facebook page and an awesome story of love and hope.

Last summer, when the little  feral kitten “Wonder” found his way to us, I had to work really hard, in my mind, to not jump into the fear of who in the world would want a wild kitten? I took a picture of him and wrote about it on this blog. That same day was the first time my friend Patty ever read the blog. She had been looking for an orange kitten and called me up.

She asked for another picture (I think that the one I posted only showed his head peeking out of the bushes). Every time he saw me, he ran away, but finally I got a few pictures. As I looked at them I thought, “This is one tough little cat!” I tried to get pictures that were more friendly looking, but they all basically had that same look, and being feral, I had no idea what his temperament was. I email her the photo above with the thought, “This is who he is, and I can’t change that.” Within minutes she called and said, “I want him!” His look didn’t scare her at all, as a matter of fact, she fell in love with that face!

The theme of being who we really are, keeps coming up in my life. I cannot love someone who I don’t really know, and people cannot love me, if I am not being real. Not everyone is going to like the “real me”, but nobody can love an imitation. It can be scary to put our true face out there. The fear of rejection can keep us hiding beneath socially acceptable masks forever, but that is not really living the life that we were meant to live.

The Spirit of God is flowing through each one of us in a unique way. There is no other like you, or like me. We are all individual expressions of the Divine, and yet so many times we look at ourselves and see what is wrong; if we were only more patient, loving, kind, sweet, giving, energetic, creative, ….” the list of who we think we should be, and the idea that we are not good enough, keeps us wearing the masks….but you cannot love a mask.

I think that this is why we love animals so much. They are who they are without apology and we feel more ourselves around those beings who have no pretense. I really like the idea of 2012 being a year of discovering, and uncovering, our true selves. A year where we will bravely look right into the eyes of life and say, “This is who I am!”….I have a sneaking suspicion that if we listen closely, we will hear a still, small voice whisper back, “Welcome Home.”

Read Full Post »

Sunday nap

A happy boy!

I just had to share this photograph of Wonder with you today! What a perfect lazy-summer image to ponder as I go off for a little nap myself! I will no longer be posting here about him because his new family has set up a Facebook page with updates and pictures!

I don’t seem to have much luck with putting links up here, I think that this will do it, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wonder/193639344029237

….but if not, I will get it to you.

Happy dreaming everyone!

Read Full Post »

Things really do work out, with patience and love

Love and patience conquer all!

The only thing that I knew, when Wonder first came to us was that if we found a new home for him, it would have to be a good one. One morning, while he was still living in our garage, and had not let me touch him, Jack said, “I am really falling for her (we still thought that he was a she). If we don’t keep her, we’ll have to get fingerprints of the new owners!” I laughed thinking about how far Jack had come regarding cats. When I first met him, he had 2 big dogs and liked cats but never dreamed that he’d be living with 6 of them and that he would be the one making a case for 7! I took my coffee and went to my computer and there was the email from Patty saying that she wanted Wonder. I yelled to Jack, “You won’t need finger prints!”

Wonder’s new home was better than what we could have provided. Patty and Mark did research on how to socialize a feral kitten. They did not treat him like a kitten who had been socialized, but they held to their vision that he would be….some day. They patiently worked with his fear of humans until …well, the photograph says it all! They conquered his fear with love, with patience; with vision of what they knew was possible. How many times, when we see something that we don’t like about ourselves, do we take this approach? So often we think that we can change ourselves by harsh reprimand, disgust, and self-hatred. These approaches do not work. We just cannot hate ourselves into becoming more loving, open and peaceful. Let’s give ourselves a break and acknowledge right now how far we have come. Give yourself a big hug and a smile instead of a whack and a frown!

“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself“. St. Francis De Sales

Read Full Post »

Watch out!

Patty catches Wonder in the act of being cute!

Many years ago, when my sons were little, and I was struggling with how to be a good parent; wanting them to grow up to be secure, happy, self-realized people, someone said to me, “I always try to catch my children doing something great.” This statement was such a shock to me; such a change from the attitude of watching out for trouble, the prevalent societal mindset of ” These are the warning signs and the things to be aware of in your kids behaviour….” I never forgot this and did my best to incorporate it into my philosophy of parenting.

It goes beyond parenting though. I want to approach life and living this way too; being always aware of the great things that people around me are doing, believing that the universe is “conspiring to bless me”….conspiring to bless us all. Watch out! Something great might happen to you today!!

Read Full Post »

Eat, Play….Love!

Eat, Play, ....love

Wonder has taken up temporary residence in our garage…it is dry and safe (and messy but she does not seem to notice).  Yesterday, after she ate, she started playing with Jack’s wet, dirty boots and socks that he had left on the floor. She also let me pet her while she ate, and then she purred…..so sweet.

Friends have offered her a place on their farm…talk about pulling on strings; our hearts are already intertwined with hers, but we are very grateful that she will have such a wonderful home. We are also “at capacity” with 6 big cats and 1 big dog in our little tiny house and feel that we cannot give another the good attention that she deserves.

Read Full Post »

Good morning Wonder!

The first picture of Wonder

I set Wonder’s food bowl out this morning and was able to catch a photo (through the window) of her coming out of the bushes for breakfast. She is so cute that I want to pick her up and hug her. She clearly does not want that… won’t even let me get within 3 feet of her. I am going to have to let her set the pace of our relationship. Right now, all she is asking from me is to be fed.

“I care not for a man’s religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.” Abraham Lincoln

*******Thank you everyone for your fun, warm stories after the Wonder post. Cheryl by the sea was the winner of the bag!*********

Read Full Post »

The “Wonder” of it all. ….and a little contest!

a cute little bag!

I got up later than Jack this morning. He was sitting in the living room drinking coffee as I came down the stairs and the first thing he said was, “You would not believe what happened last night!” I could tell it was going to be a good story so I poured my coffee and sat down to listen.

He said, “About midnight, I heard Esther (one of our six cats) at the front door. I opened it to let her in and guess who was sitting there like she was one of the family? Wonder! “ We had named the feral kitten, that we heard several days ago and have been feeding but unable to get close to, “Wonder”, after the Stevie Wonder song (from yesterday’s blog), “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing”. (we’re not sure if “she” is really a she or a he but we don’t like saying “it” so Wonder is a she for now). This is so unusual.  Esther is the alpha cat. She chases every cat off our property and orders our others (4 males and another female) around the house like she is the queen. The thought that she would even allow another cat to be sitting on our front step with her is amazing.

I get a weekly reading from the Findhorn Foundation* and after listening to Jack’s story about Wonder, I opened their email, and this was how part of it read, “….Those who live by it (the inner voice of knowing) know of the wonder of it, know what happens when it is obeyed, know how doors are flung wide open, know how wonder upon wonder comes about, know the joy and glory it brings with it, know that it works.” * http://www.findhorn.org

I love it when I get affirmations from the universe like this…it makes me remember that I am a part of a something so big, so good, so expansive and so beyond my conscious mind’s ability to figure it out, that I must let go and trust that this river of life is safe to plunge into!

So what does the little bag have to do with the kitten? Besides being about the same size, nothing!  I bought it a while back and have never used it. It was made in Guatemala and has a print on the back that looks like a Guatemalan fabic. It is so cute and such a perfect little summer bag that I thought one of my readers might like it. To enter this contest, post a comment with the word WONDER in it. Feel free to “tell a story” or just post the word. I will choose a random entry in the morning and mail the bag out to the winner.

Read Full Post »