All Creatures Great and Small
I am amazed by the order of nature. I have the blessing of living amongst many living creatures and one of my favorite things to do is watch them all interact. Outside my house there is an order on land and in the air. The birds that frequent our feeders have a definite pecking order. The smaller ones are gather together and descend at once for a feeding frenzy. That lasts along with a cardinal or two and a robin and its mate until the blue jays or blackbirds arrive- then all birds disperse. The blue jays are only distracted when a hawk or owl return to the trees. Our outside cat, Midnight, sits and watches. She never attempts to catch or even bother the birds- she knows they are welcome and belong here. She does not, however, have the same respect for the poor field mice that happen to cross her path. They are often gifts left for me when I open the door- ugh!
Midnight begrudgingly shares her morning food with the raccoon that has taken up residence. He saunters up to the porch every morning when it is still a bit dark and together they have breakfast together. For many years we had a raccoon that we called “Old Gray” that would arrive each morning for food and share with our many outside cats. He would also take an occassional nap in the warm sun. Now “Old Gray” has passed as have all but one of the cats. Midnight has held on and is now joined with a new bandit eyed friend who we have yet to name.
Our dogs- all six of them- have an order as well. Although tempting, I try not to mess with it to much. Not thrilled about being considered “one of the pack”, I am clearly the alpha dog. When I am not in the mix, the alpha is Hope. Maddie, our precious old girl was the alpha until she aged and became ill. She spends most of her day in the house with Duke, our chihuahua, and two cats. The dogs outside have an order as to who gets out the barn door first, who eats first and who is allowed to walk next to me when I am in the yard working.I love to just blend in and become invisible to see what each one does when they think I am not looking- it really is fascinating.
Charley, our newest dog, is a Blue Healer. His nature is to herd things- all things- and he does so with intent and tenacity. He first started out in the house as he had bi-lateral hip surgery and was recuperating. He tried to herd Maddie- she would not budge. Next was Duke and there were times we would find Duke in a corner afraid to move from where Charley had placed him! The cats would have nothing to do with his herding and soon learned what we all know- cats do as they please. Outside went Charley and his next targets were Hope, Lucy, and Fudge. No one seems to listen to Charley outside either and he becomes very cranky and frustrated- often how I feel with three teenagers!
The order of nature is so evident around this house. It really is comforting as it just continues and carries on even as pets pass on and are born. Soon Maddie will not be with us and as is tradition, we always allow another one of the oldest to come in the house. That will alter the order for certain and soon an entirely new one will appear. And on it goes.
I wish the order in other areas of my life were so predictable!!
