Best and highest use

Sometimes something is sooo obvious that I don't even notice it. Ever since we bought "The Property" I've fussed off and on about what we should "do" with it. We live in the country but we don't have horses, goats, sheep or even chickens. Once upon a time we helped raise a small flock of ducks from eggs as a school science project. They mysteriously and suspiciously disappeared from what is now the dog run one afternoon when we weren't around. Whether the predators were two or four legged, or the quackers simply escaped, was never determined. The idea of bee hives is, perhaps permanently, on hold. This past week, it finally occurred to me that what we are doing with the property is providing habitat for song birds, dragonflies, native plants, turkeys, deer, snakes, turtles, frogs and heaven only knows what else. The "use" we get from that is the pleasure of watching things come, grow, go and generally do their own thing. The world would no doubt be in better shape if humans limited their "improvements" to real property. I'll try to keep that in mind the next time I start worrying about whether what we've done is the "best and highest use." This isn't just real estate. It's a home we're sharing with a number of neighbors and distant relations.

"the neighborhood in Spring"

Photo by J. Harrington

bear track in the back yard sand

Photo by J. Harrington

goldfinches and scarlet tanager under feeder

Photo by J. Harrington

Earlier today I wrote the following poem. It seems to fit the blog theme, or, perhaps, established it.

Listen to the Silence
Hear here
What is not there
Then Dawn drops
Birdsong rises
Attend the moment

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