Roots of Tolerance, Tendrils of Kindness

What is the life purpose of the deer, raccoons, and birds? Is it different from humans, or are we the same, with our intention to live, experiencing this world for the sake of life? To wake up, go through the day, working and resting, eating and sleeping - the same for the creatures as for the humans.

Birds flit in the shrubs and trees, and I open the door and breathe in the air. I’ve disturbed the birds, so they fly a little way away from me, to their favored spots. I’m an intruder in their my yard. They watch me, analyzing the time it takes to zoom in on a seed, while I stand silently.

Rainy days, whether cold or warm, fill me with the dewy refreshment of petrichor and a sense of peace. Pink clouds and orange skies glimmer at sunset on clear days in the summer and fall. Eyesight is always more fulfilling than a photo, but I cannot resist the challenge of getting the shot and sharing it.

Winter fog brings eerie howls of coyotes wandering the greens at night, coupled with Horned owls hooting, a partner sending a response softly from a separate group of trees.

The tree frogs croak day and night until the deep frost sets in to silence them, and then they hunker down, hidden from sight beneath leaves, under roots. I cannot find them following their croak. Is he brown now like the leaves, or still green on a laurel leaf?

The roots of trees sometimes split sidewalks or curbing, seeking more area, and the canopy grows larger as the roots spread. This is the neighborhood of trees and wildlife, with rain patterning on the house and wind bashing the sides and pushing the trees.

Roots. And me.

For me, coffee and water. For birds, seeds, and bugs, the earth’s bounties feed the wildlife each day. We all wander, crossing paths, meandering along, filling out bellies, sleeping, and tolerating one another daily.

Roots of tolerance and tendrils of kindness and goodness filter through the air. Roots that center in the rain and sun, dig in under the wind and the fallen trees. Life branches sway in the heat or cold, sometimes succumbing to death. Families grow with birth and decrease with death, and sometimes due to disappointment and discord. Annually, we experience death in all forms - sadness, changes of heart, and in the seasons. After the chill comes spring and new life, the birth of a new life cycle: seeds and roots, coffee and water, bees and butterflies, honey, and sour lemons and cherries.

And love.

Copyright © 12/11/2025 by Andrea O. Corwin

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