The Return of the Animals
I confess to being a springtime scrooge. When everyone else is oohing and aahing over the warm weather, welcoming it and delighting in it, I cringe, knowing that, despite the fact that there are some magnificent days in April, May and early June, Spring is the harbinger of the dreaded hot-humid-hazy, lazy days of summer. Admittedly, this is a terrible attitude and a worse way to think, not living in the present at all.
April may be the cruelest month as T.S. Elliot writes, and I concur in many aspects, except for the return of the animals. Why? Because the animals work their unique and miraculous magic on depressed souls and bring joy. I once read that animals were natural anti-depressants… a very astute observation. How a child’s face lights up with joy to touch an animal or observe one up close. Adults, too, are wooed by their innocence. Animals bring enchantment, enrich our lives. That is why therapy dogs and other animals do such good work in hospitals, prisons, hospices for the dying, wherever there is misery.
The return of the animals brings music to the air, replacing the ominous gale winds of winter and the blanketed silence of snows. Insects hum and buzz. Birds sing and chirp. Windows are opened wide to allow sweet- smelling, soporific breezes to blow through our houses. Little green shoots become beautiful flowers in our gardens, along side roads, in the fields. Trees come to life again, gods of greenery. Fat, red-breasted robins perk up the lawn in their search for worms. And we no longer have to worry about animals starving. The deer we see mid-March in groups, scavenging for food are thin and weak. And the squirrels have run out of their stores as well, raiding the bird feeder which they normally leave to the birds. A late Spring means animals will starve and die with no edible items.
And yet, with all the pleasure the return of the animals brings us, do we welcome them with open arms? No, we fumigate our land and spread pesticides all over their territory. Many species of birds are heading towards extinction due to our use of pesticides and, generally speaking, our “development” of the land. We destroy vernal pools, thinking them mere puddles rather than the breeding place of frogs and salamanders. We take the babies of spring– the lambs, the calves– away from their mothers and slaughter them. Sometimes with abject cruelty, in full view of the mothers. The mothers wail in anguish. We break bonds stronger than the supposedly solid bond of human matrimony that nowadays fails as often as it succeeds.
In The Letter Writer, famed author, Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote: “In his thoughts, Herman spoke a eulogy for the mouse who had shared a portion of her life with him and who because of him, had left this earth. “What do they know–all these scholars, all these philosophers, all the leaders of the world–about such as you? They have convinced themselves that man, the worst transgressor of all the species, is the crown of creation. All other creatures were created merely to provide him with food, pelts, to be tormented, exterminated. In relation to them, all people are Nazis; for the animals it is an eternal Treblinka.”
This is how we repay those who bring us such joy, such love, such purity– those who uplift, save lives, care for us. It has been said that a dog is the only creature who loves his caretaker more than he loves himself. Dogs have it over us in this.
Spring is almost here and, with it, the return of the animals. Let us open our hearts to our fellow creatures and show them the appreciation they so deserve, for without them there truly will be, as Rachel Carson direly predicted, a “silent spring”.
For contributing to Michael’s home for street children in Uganda, click link below picture of Michael and Angie…
https://www.gofundme.com/f/sustainability-support-for-the-makindye-foundation
MOONSIDE 
beautifully shared💞🥰💞thank you🙏🏼❤️🙏🏼
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May 6, 2024 at 12:29 PM
Thank YOU!! So glad you liked it❣️❣️🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽❣️❣️
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May 7, 2024 at 6:15 PM
Your description of spring is very picturesque and welcoming to the animals. I, too, have a deep respect for the animal kingdom and will avoid stepping on an ant outside in their home. Beautiful images, by the way. 🙂
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May 6, 2024 at 12:42 PM
Oh, that’s great Nancy. So glad you liked the photos!
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May 6, 2024 at 9:39 PM
This was beautifully said and I certainly agree with everything you said.
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May 6, 2024 at 11:00 PM
Thank you very much!
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May 7, 2024 at 12:05 PM
I found this very moving also! It reminded me of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, where nature falls mute due to the pesticides that were ravaging the insects and birds. The photos were incredibly vibrant too – pointing out what we stand too lose! Linda xox
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May 7, 2024 at 3:37 AM
Oh, glad you agree, Linda, and thanks for your kind comment. But Rachel Carson expressed it all beautifully. Anyhow, thank you❣️Ellen
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May 9, 2024 at 9:38 PM
Always a pleasure to visit – pity that there are so many blogs and so little time – I do my best, and love the time I spend here, Linda xox
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May 9, 2024 at 10:10 PM
Thanks so much, Linda!!🥰
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May 9, 2024 at 11:17 PM
I love this authentic response to the doldrums of summer but the excitement of the emergence of life in the spring. But how we treat those we cohabit with here on earth is deplorable. Rather than look with awe at what’s happening around us, hearing the sounds of life from birds, animals, and insects alike. The Bible talks about how the earth groans because of our sin. How true.
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May 7, 2024 at 1:35 PM
Yes, how true.
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May 7, 2024 at 3:23 PM
BONJOUR
Le bonheur est souvent quelque chose que l’on donne sans savoir.
Le bonheur est un état de vie: il en est ainsi d’un visage souriant, d’un rire communicatif, d’une présence, d’un geste,d’une caresse, d’une étreinte,d’un mot, d’un remerciement…
C’est une façon d’être, un mode de vie.
On ne calcule rien, on donne, c’est tout;sans rien attendre en échange.
Le bonheur on le crée, il ne coûte rien et il est contagieux..!!
Belle semaine à vous tous Bernard
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May 14, 2024 at 3:02 AM
Merci beaucoup! Et Belle semaine a vous! Aujourdhui est la 35th anniversarie du marriage pour mon mari et moi!❤️❤️❤️🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
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May 14, 2024 at 10:02 AM
Belle semaine a vous!
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May 14, 2024 at 11:18 PM
Nice post 😎
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May 16, 2024 at 3:16 PM
Thank you very much, Darryl😊
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May 16, 2024 at 4:11 PM
I really appreciate the time that you take to come over to my blog and so I’ve done a shoutout of yours on mine – I hope you don’t mind, I really am ever so grateful! Linda xox
(http://themindfulmigraine.blog/2024/05/17/4-month-rebirth-day/)
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May 16, 2024 at 6:45 PM
Mind?? It was so very kind of you to do a shout out to my blogon yours!! How generous!! I love your blog and find it excellently written and informative. Thank you so much!🙏🏽🥰
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May 16, 2024 at 10:26 PM
Heaps of love right back at you – it’s been so wonderful to have met you – here’s to lots more months of banter and mutual support. xox
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May 16, 2024 at 10:50 PM
Yes, it has been wonderful to meet YOU! Yes, here’s to lots more talk and mutual support!! Thanks again. ❤️
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May 16, 2024 at 10:54 PM