The apartment building when I currently live is situated in a lovely, well established, family-type neighborhood surrounded by trees. This affords me hours of entertainment watching the many birds and squirrels that have taken up residence there. In addition to the squirrel family that lives in the porch roof of the house opposite my window, the trees behind the building are especially inviting to my winged and furry friends. They are a varied assortment of evergreens, black chestnut, maple, and a host of others. The only drawback is that often, both in the dead of winter and the sweltering days of summer, my little friends are challenged to find safe, adequate, food and water. After having my heart broken one day watching these little creatures dumpster diving to find food, I decided that I would adopt all of them and become their grandma.
I started by finding a spot that was near the tree line out back and started leaving nuts, seeds, and the scraps from fresh fruits and vegetables (I am sorry to report that they definitely do not like kale, but that's an acquired taste for anyone). As the weather got warmer and the rain got scarcer, I found an old, small pot I no longer cooked in and placed it under the trees where it wouldn't get too much sun. I kept it cleaned and filled with fresh water. I did have to rig a small wire plant support around it as some of the squirrels were knocking it over when they sat on the edge of it to drink.
At first, when I would come out every morning, I would see the squirrels sitting on top of the trash dumpster in the parking lot, digging for whatever they could find. As soon as they saw me, they would scatter and disappear. Once I started setting out the food and water, especially the seeds, the birds would come to life and start chattering loudly as if they were sending out a message to their bird relations: "Hey! The food lady is here!" By the time I would check a few hours later, it would all be gone except for the nut shells. As time went on, the squirrels would still scatter when I came out, but they wouldn't go far. One squirrel in particular would stay up in one of the trees but within sight. Then one morning, when I came out to fill the water bowl and lay out some seeds, one of the squirrels went up into the tree right overhead and just sat there, watching me. I spoke to him, softly, as I put out the feast. He would twitch his tail and chatter at me. This has now become a daily ritual for him and I. He sits either in the tree or on the fence a few feet away as I put out the food and water, and we have a chat. He knows I won't hurt him, and that I am there to take care of him. He trusts me. The day I realized that this tiny, furry creature trusted me, when most humans weren't to be trusted in their world, I felt as if I had been blessed.
If we can get animals in the wild, especially small ones like my buddy here, to trust us instead of run from us, what does that say about how we treat and trust each other? Animals don't know anything about hate or greed. They do know about love. They love their children just like we do. They want to provide for them and keep them safe just like we do. They want to survive, just like we do. They want what we want: a safe place to live, food to eat, shelter from the storms, and to love and be loved. If we can get animals to trust us, why can't we learn to trust and care for each other? The answer is, we can, if we just take it one day at a time, one person at a time, one loving gesture at a time. That's how love grows.
And so it is.
