Thursday, March 24, 2011

Lessons from Nature

My thoughts have been drawn to springtime this week like a young man's thoughts which are turned lightly to love.  What has nature's example taught me?  These five lessons are this week's Fave Five from Willow's Cottage.

1. Beauty often lies in the details.


2. Never under estimate the power of a storm.  Southern California has been slammed with back to back rain and wind storms this week.  While we are used to the occasional three day rain storm blowing in off the Pacific Ocean, the storm on Sunday was unusually violent.  Trees were toppled on the nearby golf course, in local neighborhoods, and along the freeways.  Rain turned to snow in the coastal mountains closing the main freeway route from the San Joaquin Valley into the Los Angeles basin.  At least two of our neighbors sustained damage to their homes, and we all lost our electricity for a while on Sunday evening.  While our little inconveniences are NOTHING compared to what the brave people of Japan are suffering, this storm was a timely reminder of the power of wind and rain.  It was not your typical little spring rain storm.

3. This little ground squirrel exemplified an interesting quality-the refusal to be deterred from his goal.  While we were taking a break in our twelve mile bike ride along the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, we propped our bikes up near a picnic table, sat down and ate our bag lunches.  Mr. Squirrel wanted to share.  He was hungry.  He was determined.  Whenever we shooed him away, Squirrel Boy returned and crept ever close, even climbing up my bike tire to reach the table's bench and hopefully snatch a crumb from my peanut butter sandwich.  He was persistent!


4. The white heron taught me a lesson, too.  He was perched on a truck cab in the lot where we parked our car while we were biking.  Although cars drove in and out past the grey truck, the heron never moved.  He turned his head back and forth a few times but he stayed right there on the truck looking decidedly bewildered and out of place since we were several hundred feet away from the river bed and even farther from the beach.  He seemed to be thinking, "Uhh, this doesn't look much like the beach.  But the pelican told me to fly south."  I was reminded of the truth that even if you are sincere and adamant in your belief, if you're wrong, you're still sincerely wrong.


5. Finally, the sagest advice I took away from this week came from the humble seagull.  Always make sure they photograph your good side.


Have you learned anything this week from feathered friends or wacky weather?  Share it!  And if you want, join Susanne's Friday Fave Five at her blog Living To Tell The Story.

23 comments:

Dorothy said...

I can't decide which of your Favorite Five is my favorite, Willow! Maybe that white heron on the truck cab....

Kiti said...

That ground squirrel is awfully cute. Too bad it's probably carrying THE PLAGUE!!!

Tracy said...

LOVE that heron taking a cruise along with that truck--great shot, Willow! Here spring is slowly making her way, and the snow is melting--HOORAY! After a long, cold, snowy winter, this is the highlight of the week. ;o) Happy Weekend ((HUGS))

ellen b. said...

I'm with Kiti on that ground squirrel. Yikes! Love your creative fave five Willow. You are learning a lot while teaching about writing...fun! The macro of that flower is gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

I, too, liked the lesson of the white heron! Of course, I also like that you have flowers there (and not snow, like we have). Mary

Jerralea said...

Great post, Willow!

I love the persistent squirrel, but my favorite is the seagull. I agree, never let anyone photograph unless they get your good side!

Carrie said...

=D Cute post. Love that persistent little squirrel!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Barbara H. said...

Love #1, both the picture and the thought.

The weather has been crazy lately -- here in TN a tornado touched down in a town near us.

I would be a little afraid of such a persistent squirrel!

Hope the heron found his way home.

Marg said...

I loved you analogies of your lessons from nature. It's interesting sometime how those things develop in your mind as you give way to contemplation.

Laura@OutnumberedMom said...

Ha! Your #5 made me laugh! What a beautiful photo with #1 -- lovely. And the truth about being wrong sincerely is so true!

Have a great week ahead!

Brenda said...

Lol, that last one was funny. I just wish photographers would cooperate with me on only taking a picture of my good side! ;) The white heron is pretty funny too, great job on those pictures.

Susanne said...

The lesson from the seagull made me laugh. Smart gull. :v)

Spring is a little slow getting here in my area. Someone forgot to turn the snow machine off! But I'm sure it will come one day soon.

Gattina said...

I hope you shared your food with this cute little squirrel !

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

From this wacky weather I've learned that while not all dogs like the water mine LOVES the water and the muddier the puddles the better :)

Your bike ride sounds so relaxing ~ and you go a good distance too. Occasionally we'll rent bikes down at Venice beach and I enjoy that very much.

I couldn't agree more with your observation that one can be sincerely wrong ~ not often said in a subjective culture like ours.

Have a great week ~

Karyn said...

Love the red details on that flower! Great photos and lessons. I enjoyed your post.

Lisa notes... said...

These 5 lessons are all good. I love Squirrel Boy's persistence. :-)

Catherine said...

What really great pictures and stories! I love the squirrel and his persistence! I'm glad you were okay in the bad weather. It can be so amazing, and a powerful reminder of how little we control.

Ally Jay said...

We are always learning on this adventure called life. Great post.

Caroline said...

Ohhhh! I so enjoyed all of your pictures, but the last one of the seagull is my fav. I'm with Kiti on the squirrel though. I still think they're cute, but many of them aren't even a little afraid, which makes me nervous sometimes.

Z said...

Isn't it interesting how you can look at things you see all the time, and then sometimes when you really look at them you can see them in a new light.

I enjoyed all of your observations, and the storms out here in California have been strong. But it's just like in life, after the storm is over then the sun comes out. (After things seem like they'll never let up, it gets better).

Thanks!

XUE said...

Never fall asleep with sunglasses on.

Bethany said...

Your photos are really great!

Barbara said...

Heron is not a bird I want to see, although he visits us every day. Our 70 plus fish are down to about 3 but hopefully lots of the babies will survive.

Hope you enjoy your Easter break Willow.