on This Earth

While I have spoken about the practice with its three main components,

• being still/silent
• observe
• reflect

in my other posts, there are times when nature just surprises us out of the blue. In such cases, it is good to just embrace the experience. A recent experience I had involved a crow gliding above my head. It lightly tapped me before landing on top of a lamp post. It then proceeded to chat with me as I passed under the lamp post.

I love these little surprising interactions with nature. They are a reminder that we humans need to appreciate that we are not unique. That we share characteristics with the other creations such as the trees, the birds, the foxes, the squirrels and more. I am not trying to anthropomorphise them. However, it is important to be reminded that they are nations/communities just like us. As the Qur’an stated in 6:38:

And there is no moving creature in or on the earth, none that is a fowl flying with its two wings, but they are communities like yours. We neglected not anything in the Book. Again, they will be assembled to their Lord.

Yet, we don’t accord them the same respect as we do humans. But given that we often treat our fellow human as the ‘other’, perhaps I should not expect otherwise. For me, these encounters reinforce my belief that I should treat all of my fellow creation as I would want to be treated.

Let’s take a look at some of these encounters and my reflections on them.

The fox

My cat, Pippin, and I have a morning routine of walking around the neighbourhood. A ‘paw patrol’ as I like to call it after the cartoon. At the end of summer, a young fox started to join us on our walks. Not regularly but a few times. The video below is of its interaction with Pippin the second time it came with us.

You can see that the fox was unafraid of me and more interested in playing with Pippin. Unfortunately, Pippin was unimpressed at the time and refused to play. The second video shows their evolving interactions as they became more familiar. Once again, the fox didn’t seem to be afraid of me unlike some other foxes who would run away. Perhaps he was reassured by Pippin’s presence; Pippin was my guarantor of good behaviour.

We met him again this morning. I contrast his reaction to me with the caution they both had with the oncoming stranger in the video (around the 2:57 mark). Once again, the fox showed that he was quite discerning about the situation.

I have often seen several foxes around the neighbourhood and wonder where they actually live. As cities grow, we are encroaching into their territories. People treat them as vermin and there is the tradition of fox hunting in the UK. But if you look closer, they are remarkable. Adapting to a changing environment and new dangers is never easy but they and countless other species have. They play a crucial role in our urban environment by

• hunting small mammals like rats and mice,
• ‘cleaning up’ dead animals, and even aerate the soil by digging their dens.

I saw the little fox jumping a relatively tall fence once. I also heard from a neighbour how the foxes played with her shoes. They have such a curious and playful nature. If only we can learn to appreciate them, we can learn so much from them.

The bird

We all love a bath, that sense of cleanliness. Is it any wonder that our most prominent neighbours, the birds, do too? The video below really captures the enjoyment of this little jackdaw or crow in bathing in the burn. I chanced upon the bathing bird while walking along the burn. It didn’t even react to my presence given its enjoyment. Only when it heard people coming along did it stop its bath and flew away.

Some birds are adaptable, just like the fox. Especially if they are able to find their food source. As is the case of the laughing thrushes where they have found a rich food source in the Singapore parks. While they are not native to Singapore, they have been able to thrive. In the video below, you can hear their calls and see how they feed on the flowers and fruits.

I have written about birds in an earlier post, here. But each encounter with them is special – from the bathing jackdaw/crow to the loud buzzards and hovering kestrels. They can be so resilient like these birds in the video below who came to feed even in the snow.

I was out in the garden this morning and saw some of the fallen apples half eaten. The birds have been pecking at them. They have left the fallen apples alone in the autumn to let them soften. And when the other food sources are finished, they started to eat them. And as I mentioned in my other post on birds, crows are intelligent problem solvers. We really need to be more appreciative of our feathered neighbours.

The lizard

I was in Singapore recently, visiting family, and needed to get away from the crowd. So I went to the wetlands at Marina Bay for some quiet time; practising my being still/silent and observation skill. Unfortunately, I offended the resident lizard by encroaching on his quiet time. I managed to film him swimming away from me in the video below.

Monitor lizards are an integral part of the tropical wetland system. I have encountered many; this one is small in comparison. They can be very fierce and protective. It is said that if you see a monitor lizard, then the water is safe from crocodiles.

Conclusion

These are little snippets of my various encounters. I have seen people just walking past things that they should have noticed. I feel like they are missing out, like someone walking past Beethoven playing one of his master pieces. For me, these are glimpses of the master piece of the greatest orchestra – a living symphony of Grace.

Yet, this great orchestra has been threatened by silence as many such communities face possible extinction in the near future. It is therefore up to us to help them, not only stopping extinction but also to thrive. If you would like to do something towards this goal, you can visit this page for some recommended actions.