Resilience

Nature's ability to keep going through any and all things has always amazed me.  Humans have some of this ability, but it seems to me that Nature in all her majesty is the master of this.  Take this little nugget for example:


Last year one of my neighbors found a nest of raccoons living in a tree in his backyard.  His solution to this was to cut down the tree.  I didn't know at the time what happened to the raccoons but I wished them well & hoped they were able to find a new home.


This spring looking up into a tree that lies just on the edge of our property and this same neighbor's, I saw something way up in the tree that might have been a nest.  I continued to keep an eye on said tree and sure enough, that evening we saw a raccoon.  Now, most people don't really understand what I mean when I say that I gravitate toward animals and natural things in general, but that evening is a fine exampled of what I mean.  I stepped out on to the porch and saw the raccoon at the same time it saw me.  We both froze & just continued to watch each other.  After a few moments the raccoon went back up the tree.  In those moments I made a mental agreement with the raccoon.  Basically it went like this - I won't bother you if you don't bother me and mine.  Laugh all you like at the idea of a grown woman talking to a raccoon in her head, but after that the raccoon went up in the tree and I went back in the house.


We haven't had any issues with raccoons getting into our trash, harming our pets (our cat is only about 8 pounds), or causing any general ruckus.  A few days later I noticed several other nests high in the trees in my neighbor's yard.  These raccoons are amazing to me as they have proven smart enough to build high in trees where they won't be noticed, and also smart enough to stay away from the human homes that might take their tree home from them.  I continue to be amazed at the resilience in the natural world around me, and try to learn and commune with it as much as possible.