Catching My Attention

A bird called to me. Looking I saw nothing in the trees. I walked on, but before my second step I heard the same call. Again I looked but saw nothing that could fly. ‘Oh well! I might as well get going,” I thought until the call—this time with a teasing lilt—seemed to say, “You can’t find me, can you?”  No, I never found the bird, nor recognized the voice. Nature was playing a little game with me. Would I play along? As I walked the rest of the way home, I wondered how often Nature tries to catch my attention. I reflected upon my unintentional and unacknowledged impact on my relationship with the outdoors. Did my footsteps disturb the earthworms? Was pulling a weed a help or hindrance? Did I appreciate the delicate white five-petaled flowers along my path? Was I thankful to the breeze? Did I notice the new mint green ends of the evergreens? If Nature is a teacher it was telling me “Pay attention.’”