I sat outside this morning while I ate my cereal and listened to the birds and examined the spider webs and I think I saw a fox run across the field. I figured out that this one larger bird was a brown thrasher. It has a distinct kissing smack, but apparently it's responsible for the beautiful songs I hear too. I think I got it mixed up with the mockingbird because it has so many different tunes.


So I was watching the cardinals eat off the ground (do they like grapes?) and thinking about this whole ecological system we have around us. The frogs live off the bugs. The possums and raccoons and deer live off the vegetation. The foxes live off the possums and raccoons and ducks. The bobcat lives off the deer. It is pretty amazing to be stuck right in the middle of it. I really am so grateful for the beautiful place I live in and getting to see God's wonderful creation.

But do I have to see it inside my house too? I trapped the roach under a cup, but when I tried to lift it with the paper, it almost escaped. So I inhumanely decided to just leave it there. It's stopped moving now. Yesterday, John opened the kitchen window, I made coffee, and less than 30 minutes after we had coffee, there was an intricate spider web from the coffee maker to the knife block. A few weeks ago, there was a huge wolf spider right next to my pillow (thankfully I spotted it before I got in bed!) So maybe I should be more appreciative of this ecological system, even when it makes its way into my house. After all, isn't that a part of having my home stuck in the middle of this natural world? Okay, so maybe I'm not at that point yet. Or maybe I just don't like sharing my breakfast with roaches and my coffee or my bed with spiders.