August 31st

Can you believe it's the last day of August already?

August 31^st

Gray squirrels are busy today

squirreling black walnuts away

or maybe hickory nuts burying.

Several seen this morning scurrying.

Their checks are full.

Their tails curl

as they find a spot

in my little lot.

They're providing winter's dinner.

There's no charge at this diner.

They are watching me watch them

as this little rhyme is penned.

Other garden guests catch my eye

as I sit under the blue sky.

Each one of these creatures are busy

in their various activities.

A hummingbird sips from the butterfly bush

then off he goes seemingly in a big rush

when he hears the cawing blue jays

who's come to feast on seeds today

from sunflowers ripening under the sun.

They'll eat their full before this day is over and done

then returns tomorrow

for he does not borrow.

The yellow finches have already found the stash

of ripening sunflower seeds out back.

They are greedily eating lunch

while on the ground falls a bunch

ensuring next year more sunflowers will appear

and perhaps enticing furry rodents near -

that is, chipmunks and such.

Hopefully not mice – yuk!

A hummingbird returns with a zip

where from the trumpet vine he sips

but not for long.

Off he goes...so long.

In the sedum, a bee

as busy as can be.

Autumn Joy Sedum smells like honey.

Through a miracle, bees make honey.

If you listen closely you might hear the bees hum

though today their hum is drowned out by the crickets strum

for late summer crickets practice day and night.

It's as if they know autumn is in sight.

Autumn means the hummingbirds will fly south,

along with V-shaped formations headed south

for when you hear honking in the sky

it's the geese honking their yearly bye bye.

The hummingbirds,

the smallest of birds,

travel alone

on their way home

while large geese need each other

to migrate southward together

as they soar with the wind

beneath their flapping wings.

Brown-eyed susans shine

even without sunshine

for gray clouds are moving in.

Leaves are rustling in the wind.

A leaf tumbles down

now laying on the ground.

Though August 31^st, it feels like autumn.

Soon buzzing bees will no longer hum.

Raindrops descend.

It's time to head in.

Inspiration

from my Eden

has penned another rhyme

in today's sunshine.

Tomorrow there will be more

observations to store.

* * * * *

Love the inherent wisdom found in nature.

Do take time to watch as creatures nurture.

Nature does have much to teach us.

Yes, it even teaches us to trust.

Harmony is found in one's garden

as the gardener faithfully tends.

Not only nature's musicality

but also compatibility and unity.

Compatibility and unity is seen

in the bird kingdom's domain

as geese flock together

whatever the weather.

Trees provide nuts

for squirrels and chipmunks.

And various seeds are found

by hungry birds the world around.

Many birds seen dine

in today's sunshine.

Their lesson: "Do not worry," it only brings trouble.

A command often repeated in the Bible.

Industrious is another lesson that is key

as gardeners observe busy honey bees.

Off to work they go,

humming as they go.

Do take time from your busy day

to observe how God provides today

for your garden visitors.

You'll be pleasingly blessed, for sure.

Do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or drink;

or about your body,

what you will wear...

Look at the birds of the air;

they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6:25-26

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