The Balance of Nature

This morning I awoke with a large black cloud hovering over my head, the result of what appears to be a one-sided pissing contest with me as the target (albeit rather obtusely), initiated by someone who doesn't like the way I write - or wrote nearly two years ago - about the first piggy who stole my heart. Despite emails and phone calls from supportive friends and acquaintances equally shocked by the latest vicious, unwarranted attack, I felt a tension in my body and a heaviness in my heart that a beautiful sunny morning could not eradicate.

I fed the piggies and alpaca, rounded up the dogs, and headed out to the pasture for our morning meditations on the hill.

And then it happened. A pileated woodpecker, a rare sight around here, majestic in his bright red head and chest and long neck and wingspan, swooped low over the pasture trumpeting his loud, clear, very distinct laugh. A blue heron rose gracefully from the pond on the neighbour’s property, circled once, and then slowly winged her way across the fields. Gossamer webs brushed my arms as I wandered through the now-golden grasses, and drops of dew washed my face as I drank in the scent of the wild mint.

As the dogs and I rested at the top of the rise of pasture, I realized Charley was not with us. This is not unusual as my independent girl often likes to explore the pasture on her own instead of staying with the pack. I called her, as I always do, yet could not see her. Suddenly Sadie sat bolt upright, looked down the hill, and with ears up and tail wagging joyously started prancing back down the path. And coming from the opposite direction, Charley, ears up , tail wagging, prancing towards her, like the slow-motion lovers in the old soap commercial. My canine houseguest, TJ, who has been clinging to me like lint to Velcro, suddenly sat up straight on his little bum, front paws waggling high in the air like a gopher who hears an alarm whistle, watching his new friends on the hill below. And next thing I know, I am laughing out loud with the sheer joy of it all – happy and funny dogs, amazing scenery, wonderful glimpses of nature at its finest.

None of the criticism and anger that has been directed towards me by one embittered person mattered a whit. This is MY world, and I perceive it through MY eyes and with MY heart, and I write about it in MY words -- and no one can ever, ever, ever take that from me.

Nature has a way of replenishing that which is empty, of revealing its secrets when one most needs to see them, of sharing its wealth in times of sorrow as well as times of joy. Nature, of which we are all a part, keeps itself in balance. It is homeostatic; it seeks equilibrium. And in doing so, it provides balance to us all. The joy and beauty is all around us; we just have to open ourselves up to it.

As the dogs and I returned from the pasture I noticed Martin, the alpaca, tossing his head as an annoying fly hovered around his eyes. And I realized that the individual who caused me grief last night is nothing more than an annoying fly buzzing around the eyelashes of my life.

It is a beautiful day in a beautiful world, and I intend to enjoy it to the fullest.