Life in nature!

How contrasting the climate has turned out to be in the last two weeks. The day temperature ranged form 36 to 42 degrees celsius in the last two months. 

For two weeks now, the monsoon rain has changed the day time to be pleasant, excepting that there was only short spell of respite from rain. The sunshine is only during short periods. 

The above sights of butterflies feeding on nectar, in our garden in front of our cottage, was a delightful sight. To have the butterflies back in the garden after their migration from the garden during the hot summer months was a delightful feast to the eyes. Their colourful complexion is unique and only when one sees it, one feels the delightful blend of colours, well beyond an artist's creation of colours and design on a canvas!

While moving out in the garden following this, I looked out to the tree top, to the regular bird shelters. 

I found two mina, perched among the foliage ! They were singing to each other. The bird calls were subdued meant only for  each other! A romance in the monsoon time!   

What I experienced during the short time of ten minutes before it started to drizzle again, was the way normal life goes on, around us for butterflies and birds. 

They live because of what they can receive from the provisions in nature! 

There are days, when we forget to fill the bowl with bird food. The Mina birds come searching for food and return not having found the cereals in the bowl.   

The recent choice we made to avoid using insecticides did some good in allowing the butterflies to breed in our garden. The down side is that the rose flowers are invaded by fungus and insects. 

A family told me recently that they enjoy having their two pre-school children immensely. But if the cupboards are kept open, between both of them, they would have pulled out things to engage in make belief play. On one occasion, both parents were in the garden. When they got into the house they were greeted by their daughter with mother's saree around her chest and the rest of the length dragging on the floor. The boy had his father's shirt on him with its length covering him till the feet and the remaining length of the shirt on the floor. 

To their further surprise, they found their clothes scattered all over the floor. They had emptied the wardrobe to search for the colourful clothes, they had watched their parents wear. 

I felt comforted while listening to this experience as they spoke about it not angrily but with a sense of humour. I admired their patience and child friendly disposition!

The joyful experiences of childhood and the down side of coping with their pranks!

To allow the rose flowers to be food for insects or protect the flowers with insecticides and loose the butterflies from breeding in the plants adjacent to the rose bush in the garden ! This is a difficult choice. It is now six months since we have had the usually fresh and blooming rose flowers, since we refrained from using the insecticides. But we have the butterflies of three or four species in the garden!

We loose and gain. That is the rhythm in nature!

To live with a peaceful orientation, is what I discover from these experiences!

M.C.Mathew (text and  photo)