orbs

How adorable is he? Please feed the squirrels too!

When I was growing up we used to feed the squirrels at our kitchen windows. They got so tame we would just open the window and the little ones would take pieces of bread and treats right out of our hand. I adored them. Back then, in southern Illinois, there were chipmunks too and I dearly loved them. We don’t seem to have them here. I have lived in North Carolina for 25 years now and have never seen a chipmunk so I guess they are just not here, but we have squirrels a’plenty!

I have 5 large “squirrel-proof” feeders outside my studio windows. I have to use squirrel proof feeders or the squirrels would empty them all in a day! But if I put seed all along the windowsills for them they eat the food I put out for them and leave the feeders alone. If I see a squirrel dangling from the bird feeders I know their windowsill is empty! I rush right out and serve up another buffet! And it is my job each night. As soon as it is dark out I go out and use my leaf blower and blow off the deck really well and then spread two big cups of seed all along the windowsill. I also keep a step ladder against the wall so they have something to climb up. Amazingly when I get up, usually about 9, the windowsill is empty. I have gone out at 8 and they are pretty much empty too. They must come for their breakfast at the crack of dawn. I put more food out and then again by noon but then if I check at 2 there will still be food there. They seem to eat early and then they’re done by noon or so. The birds are out there in full force until it’s almost dark, but the squirrels finish up early. Oh they are so darling, such a delight!

Each night I blow off the porch and put the seed out for my little buddies…

It makes me sad that people will be zealous about keeping their bird feeders filled but will chase the squirrels off and never put anything out for them. They are hungry too! They are mamas and daddies too! And they are such little clowns and so much fun to watch. Real acrobats! I love feeding them and knowing that they are tucking up for the night with full tummies. And of course I keep a big bowl of fresh water out on the deck for the birds and the squirrels. With my pugs inside and my wild friends just outside the windows I can hardly get lonely!

And there’s more. Since the fire, after we moved back in 8 months later, I have barely gone outside at all. My garden was in ruins, and then gone. My beautiful angel orbs that I have shown pictures of here many times disappeared after the fire. They still appeared in photos at the rental house I had to live in while the house was rebuilt but far fewer and then none at all. They have never returned. It’s as if they came to save me from the fire, checked in at the rental house to make sure I was alright, and then went off to look after someone else. But now I am venturing outside again, I am feeding the wildlings and making them part of my daily life, and more and more little ones are appearing. In fact I was shocked to look out my kitchen window a few days ago and there was a bird SO big in the backyard, just strolling around pecking at the ground, that I thought at first it was an eagle! It was way bigger than a chicken, and then I thought perhaps it was a hawk? But it seems it was a buzzard! Gracious me! Everybody is coming to visit these days!

Inotherwords I am opening my heart again to the world outside these four walls. My property is very woodsy and backs up to a creek. I think there are far more wild ones out there than I can imagine. I know there are rats near the creek and we also have snakes but oddly in the 8 years I have lived here I have never, thank God, seen a snake, though there was one right next door last summer! I do see rats sometimes. If I don’t keep my deck blown off and clean they will come on the deck. They are hungry too but they will have to forage for themselves! I’m not going to encourage the rat population.

And the angel orbs? Who can say? I pray they will return. Maybe they were waiting for me to come back outside to greet them? I am seeing so many miracles in my life these days nothing would surprise me and I am wide open to receiving all kinds of miracles. For now I will commune with the birds and the squirrels and the buzzards too! But perhaps, one misty, moonlit night, the angel orbs will reappear. I would be filled with joy.

Life is filled with so many wonders, I look forward to each day now to see who or what will arrive. What a beautiful world it is if we have eyes to see…