9: springtime blooms

Dear Friend,

What was the most profound thing you experienced in the past week? Was it something that happened to you, something that you realized, or maybe something that you heard or read about?

It’s not unusual for praying mantises to land on my brother at the most uncanny times and places. He could be in a grocery store or the airport and one will find him. I haven’t seen my brother for over two years, he lives on the other side of the country, so, it’s good that we are able to catch up by phone. While I was outside the other day, I noticed a new bloom in the garden and thought of calling my brother and suddenly, a praying mantis showed up on the flower. It turned toward me and punched the air. This was the first mantis I’ve seen since last summer; it seemed to appear out of nowhere as I was thinking of my brother. This sort of timing happens to me a lot and I’m grateful for such things, but was it profound? The timing was perfect, I’m used to such ‘coincidences,’ yet the praying mantis still surprised me. The ‘profound’ bit happened as I acknowledged, ‘How can I be surprised if I shouldn’t be surprised?’ Logic wants me to believe that thinking about my brother did not have anything to do with the appearance of a praying mantis. Logic has its place, but I don't want to give it the last word on things like this. Would you?

Frank took his camera for a walk a couple days ago. His goal: to photograph garden flowers in this little coastal town. As he walked along he thought about a macaw he’d seen last week. The bird was riding on a man’s shoulder, they just seemed to be out on a stroll. Frank hoped he’d have an opportunity to photograph the duo someday and, what do you know? He turned the corner, and there they were!

Brian and his macaw, Lafayette, are the same age. They could both live to be well over 80 years old. That is a huge commitment for Brian, as living his life with Lafayette requires a great deal of dedication. Brian told Frank that Lafayette enjoys playing video games, doing calisthenics, and taking long walks on the beach.

Brian doesn’t carry Lafayette around to get attention, he takes him along because they both like to go on walks and they enjoy being together.

I found a YouTube video by 'Craigs Crazy Flock' that gives a fun and educational peek into adopting a macaw. (The link to the video, 'Project Blue and Gold Macaw,' follows this blog/letter).  

Here are just a few of the springtime blooms that Frank photographed on that walk.

What is growing in your garden? Have you seen many pollinators out and about?

Thank you for reading Tracks by the Post! Please don’t hesitate to Write to Us, tell us the most profound thing you experienced last week, give us your thoughts on coincidences, describe what’s growing in your garden, write about a bird you’ve shared your life with, or just let us know how you’re doing, we always enjoy hearing from you!

Wishing you (and your world) a peaceful week ahead,

Gently Be,

Leslie and Frank

PS: We are collecting stories and images about Nature to post in a future blog/letter entitled, Nature Shares. Would you like to participate? Just let us know! It's easy to do and, yes, you may remain anonymous.

Here is the link to the video I told you about: Project Blue and Gold Macaw