Oct. 23, 2007 - Extreme Nature Study
Our family has always enjoyed nature. We would be lost if we lived where there were no trees, and nature was not on our doorstep each day. We hang bird feeders and have a bird bath in our flower bed. The kids, even the oldest ones still, go to the window each morning to see what's going on outdoors.
This year, as part of fall decorating, I put two pie pumpkins on the porch to sit beside corn stalks. The squirrels loved the ears of corn still on the stalks. Unfortunately, they loved the pumpkins as well! They dug right in and had a feast. Oh well, we just left them to it. And when the pumpkins were scraped clean, we put the shells in the compost and left the stray seeds on the porch for the squirrels to gather up in time.
Yesterday, my ten year old son and seven year old daughter raced to the window to watch the squirrels. They wanted to see if all the pumpkin seeds were gone yet. Then I was called to the window to see a tiny female stuffing her cheeks with seeds. We oohed and ahhed and watched her make a few trips up the tree to her nest with her bounty. Then on one trip, as she got to the bottom of the porch, a neighborhood stray cat jumped from behind the tree and our fluffy-tailed friend became the cat's breakfast.
We were horrified at first. With indoor cats who eat their meat from a can, it can be easy to forget that cats are hunters. My daughter became angry even, and then she cried. It was truly sad from our perspective.
It was certainly the time for an impromptu lesson in in the hierarchy of nature's creatures. We talked for a while about how all things that live do eventually die, about how those animals that eat the plants are then eaten by meat eaters, and so on and so forth.
The morning was not the usual joyous celebration of the beauty of nature, we witnessed the darker side as well. But the lesson of how God's circle of life works beautifully, and for the benefit of all in the long run, is a lesson I don't believe I will have to explain again to my daughter. It has been imprinted on her heart. She has gained a deep respect for the value of life in each moment in time, and for the design of each of God's creatures.
Comments
Oct. 24, 2007 - Good Post!
Posted by srostollan
Stephanie@inspired
