Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Squirrel Lesson II

The first thing I heard this morning as I walked out onto the Eastern deck was Acorn falling. I looked up and, sure enough, Squirrel was up in Oak tree sending nuts to the ground. It had been weeks since this process began. Day after day, Squirrel has been climbing up into Oak tree, harvesting Acorns, and sending them Earthward. One by one they fall, accumulating beneath the tree to be buried, or lost, or stolen by Chipmunk.

I was struck by Squirrel's … Squirrel's what? Was it persistence? Was it hard work? These questions got me thinking. Squirrel didn't stay up in the tree for the whole day picking every Acorn she could find. She didn't toil for hours on end. Squirrel wasn't planing for the worst, making sure she had downed enough nuts to get her through a possible difficult Winter. She didn't even seem concerned that Chipmunk was stealing part of what she had dropped. What was it that let Squirrel know she was done for the day? What was it that brought her back again to harvest more on subsequent days? How did she know she when had done enough?


Today, I will be paying attention to ideas that suggest that I can not be prepared enough, or that I have to be concerned about all the potential problems that I could encounter down the road. I will be doing my best to keep my head where my feet are remember that there is something about how Squirrel does what she does that keeps her, first and foremost, from falling out of the tree. 

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