Suffering, Love

Daily Meditation 448–5/19/2023

looking out my wide bay window, the birds — doves, chickadees, finches, jays and more — all hop and bob and scratch for seeds as they weave between some half-dozen of my beloved squirrels.

“Taily Po, Whitey, Tippy…” I mumble a few of their names with a large smile and bright eyes as I survey my yard, bursting with life and (presumably) happy critters.

Watching them come pouring in each morning as I go out whistling and shaking a tin bucket full of seeds is one of the best parts of the entire day. If nothing else goes well, then at least I’ve enjoyed my little family of creatures.

Standing, I go to the front door. Giving it a few knocks, I unlock and open it. Reaching for the “hidden bowl” in my living room, I grab a fistful of peanuts. Two squirrels — Taily Po and another without distiguishing features — are already wheedling about my front steps…they know exactly what the knocks mean!

Tossing them each a peanut in the shell, they quickly scurry off. The others observe, asking themselves “Wait, where do I get such a lovely treat?” moments before I scatter the rest of the nuts over the lawn for them to each get one.

After watching them all (and listening to the borderline ASMR of them cracking the shells and crunching in the trees), I head to my Keurig in the…