Little House in the Big Woods

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are. ~Osho

Yesterday, Angelina asked: Are there a lot of bears where you live or was there just one stray lingering through town? If there are a lot, can't the town's animal control help? I wouldn't feel safe living somewhere where a bear could come out at any time.

Where I live is sort of the best of both worlds. I'm ten minutes from civilization -- I get to WalMart, Target, Home Depot, Lowes, three drugstores, two grocery stores, the doctors office one of four fast food restaurants and more in fifteen minutes or less.

But...

I also live in the boonies. You see, the property we own abuts conservation land. Technically, there is other "owned" property behind us, about a forty acre strip, and someday it might get developed but right now we have nothing but wilds. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of acres of undeveloped land.

Yes, I have a yard:




But it has a secret world behind it:



Want a closer look?





Is it any wonder we constantly fight ticks (three yesterday -- two on the dog, one on my stairs...ICK) or that we're just as likely to see a deer, as a person walking down the street? I've "met" more wildlife here than I ever did when we truly lived in the boonies in California. We have the standard hundred or two chipmunks, about the same number of red squirrels (though their numbers have dwindled since I pulled the bird feeders), owls and bats, racoons, porcupines, skunks, wild turkeys and the four-footed and hooved critters: deer, moose, fisher cats, foxes, coyotes, bear and more (DD is especially partial to playing with the toads, frogs and snakes).

It's a zoo.

I was just talking to my SIL yesterday about the bat I found in my bathroom when DD was just a baby. He was hanging from the window... scared the pants off me. It's just not something you expect to see when you walk into your bathroom! LOL...

And, so, that was my roundabout way of saying, "No, animal control can't help." and honestly, the bears usually aren't out during the day -- the one who hit my feeder last year was young and probably really, really hungry. Even so, it meant that my "trick" of pulling my feeders at night was no longer working (that's what I'd done the last ten years or so).

My neighbors up the street had a hummingbird feeder on their deck and one evening heard something outside, turned on their light and saw the bear on the deck, on his back drinking the feeder like a baby bottle.

So, yeah, I miss my birds. But, safety first!

========================

You Are Motivated By Autonomy

While you are at ease around others, it's very important that you're able to do your own thing. You are engaged with the world and with life. You find it easy to get in gear, and you're usually busy. You are emotionally stable and totally together. You have struck the perfect balance in your life. You are confident and self-assured. You believe in yourself fully and completely.

What Motivates You?

About 3/4 right.

======================