Let me tell you about two things that happened last weekend that made me happy. I had read everything in the house worth reading so we went to the Salida library. It is not nearly as big as our library in Winchester, but it is pleasant, the staff is very helpful and it smells exactly like a library should smell.
We parked right in front, got out and headed for the front door. At first, we failed to notice that standing right in front of the door was a beautiful deer. She was intent on nibbling on the large purple sage plant sitting just to the side of the door. When we slammed the car door, she jerked her head up, but I guess we were nothing to worry about so she went right back to nibbling.
We are completely used to seeing deer everywhere. This is not the first time a deer has blocked my entrance to a building downtown and certainly I am not afraid of them. However, it did seem a bit pushy of me to reach over her head and open the door.
Gene thought we should just come back later after shopping, but fate stepped in. A young man came out the door and smacked right into the deer. Did she flee? Heck no. She repositioned herself just to the side of the door, making it possible for us to enter.
I dare say, if he had slammed the door into a person, there might have been some words back and forth, but the deer just looked at him and kept right on nibbling. By the time we did our library business, she was trotting on down F Street, happy as can be. No hard feelings.
Then that same day, our grandson Taylor came to visit with us. He is an animal lover like me and was watching all the bird action on our bird feeders. Suddenly, he got up from the chair and said to me,
“Come outside, Mema, I want to try something.” Out we went and, I promise you, this is the truth. He quietly walked up to the tree where the finch feeder hung and started talking gently to the 10 or so finches all over it. Then he simply stuck out his index finger right by the feeder and continued to speak calmly and quietly. One of the gold finches looked Taylor square in the face and then simply stepped from the feeder to Taylor’s finger.
Now, these birds are not tame. There are often a whole flock of them hanging every which way to claim a few seeds, but anytime any person walks up our sidewalk or even opens our front door, I mean they scatter in every direction. Yet, here is this 20-year-old guy sticking out his finger and a wild bird trusts him enough to perch on his finger. I am telling you, my mouth fell open, and it gets even better. I watched in awe as Taylor, with his next finger, gently rubbed that bird’s head and feathers. It was unbelievable.
Both of these experiences happened today, right in front of my eyes. It did me a lot of good to, once again, see three of God’s creatures co-existing in trust and goodwill, one to another, human, bird, deer.
You know, the Bible tells us we are created in God’s image and since I believe that, it seems that surely some day we will figure out a way to all co-exist in peace.
These two incidents make me think maybe Salida has a bit of a head start.
The view from the mountains is wondrous.
