The Natural Perspective 9/12/2021

By: Jennifer Richardson Holt

My cat is a tad on the ruthless side. I suppose it is innate to most of his species. I guess he really can’t help but fight the urge to unleash the fury that is the miniature leopard within him. He does it in some more innocuous and endearing forms. He is a fan of hiding, applying his own special version stealth and pouncing on the legs of his favorite humans. And I say his own version because whether or not I can see him or even if I know full well what he is up to doesn’t seem to deter him in the slightest and I am pretty sure that isn’t how traditional stealth works.  When he pounces he very rarely, unless he is truly experiencing one of his more nut-job moments, uses any claws. He just bats at your calves (or whatever part of your body is at jump out level) in the most hilarious version of mock ferocity you have ever had flung upon you.  The whole scenario is not very often surprising as he likes to make it out to be but it is always comical.  But then there are his exploits when he gets on the back porch. Once he is in “nature” his other side rears its head.  If an unfortunate skink or frog is also on the porch well, it’s messy and I won’t get into it. He is just a very multi-faceted fellow I suppose.  It was in watching some of his exploits though that started me thinking. In my rural surroundings I get to bear witness to the countless little snippets of creation going about all of its natural enterprise that someone in a more urban setting may not be privy to.  And since I have been on a kick of attempting to learn from any and all facets of life I thought I might try to take a second look at the landscape that surrounds me and see if their happens to be more to the fur and foliage than meets the eye.

The feline friend I initially referenced I am sure has countless nuggets of wisdom to impart whether I may agree with his sentiment or not.  I suppose the first proverb my beloved golden-eyed boy could lend is to always value closeness with those you love. I don’t mean closeness simply as in bonding in conversation and experience, I mean physical and locational closeness.  Take every opportunity to just be near those you love.  I know it isn’t constantly possible for a multitude of reasons but it’s amazing the impact it can have.  If the forced isolation that has been thrust upon us as of late has taught us nothing about the value of being around each other then, well…let my cat do so.  He always positions himself in the room closest to his people. If they are in multiple rooms it is almost like he does a bit of kitty geometry in his head and positions himself in the most central location equidistant to all his people, well unless one has snacks of course and then they win the proximity contest.  Sure, he could teach independence and aloofness at doctoral levels but it is clear that nearness is important to him.  We were created to be WITH one another.  When we get the chance we should revel in the idea of presence.  I think we all need to look at my fuzzy fellow and try to more often just BE with those important to us. Zoom and an email are all well and good but they will never be the same as hearing a laugh from the other end of the couch, the scent of a beloved perfume or a warm hug.

Moving on in my efforts to pay attention, I have noticed there are A LOT of cows in my area.  I mean I knew this but the number of pastures I pass filled with great amounts of bovine is really quite astounding and possibly even more so because each of these herds have significant groups of calves making up their numbers.  Clearly not only ARE there a lot of cows in these parts but so shall there continue to be.  It seems to me that I have seen more calves lately than I can remember.  And if you have never taken the time to observe calves going about their day then I cannot recommend it enough should the opportunity present itself.  You haven’t truly experienced country entertainment if you haven’t seen a little doe eyed, snot nosed, ball of legs burst into sporadic and inexplicable gymnastics.  He is happy just for the sheer sake of happiness. He is going to jump and frolic because he can and he wants to. I suppose most of us would imagine the life of a cow to be about as monotonous as it gets. You eat in a field, sleep some, walk around said field, keep eating and repeat until death.  Yet here this guy is in pure unadulterated joy.  Maybe we all just need to take a breath, be thankful we are here and we are alive and maybe do a jump or dance?  We get to do things far more glorious and amazing than moseying around one pasture eating grass and hay or some seasonal combination of the two all our days so the least we could do is take a lesson from the calf and choose joy.  There will certainly be days we don’t feel like it but, maybe try just a tiny romp, the smallest little making of merry.  Or just let your mind wonder to a snotty nose doing a jazzy kick and gallop.  It will be hard not to at least smile.

This season itself is probably one of the most significant moments for the impartation of insight that there could be.  Everything around us is about to wholeheartedly embrace change.  The entire out of doors will be awash in magnificent color seemingly celebrating the new season at hand.  We could certainly learn a thing or two here, or I know that I could.  I am far more pleased to sit in my comfortable and familiar life rather than anything turn a new leaf (See what I did there?  Of course you do but visualize the goofy smile I am making, it adds to it.)  Here are the trees about to burst forth in jubilee knowing that in a short while they will be cold, bare and still. But they celebrate anyway!  The plants and the animals welcome the shift and to them it is simply a transformation into something altogether new yet altogether beautiful!  Yes, it is different and could possibly even be difficult. As I have never gotten a tree’s sentiment I do not know for certain for them but for us, yes. But I cannot help but wonder. What if we took a lesson from each leaf, each paw and hoof, and each blade of grass?  What if we just saw change as a new season moving us ever forward to bearing fruit, to being close to loved ones, to blossoming or to days of frolic in the field?  Because, if we ask them, that’s truly what every day really is.