Nature Gives Me Hope

I’m finally back home. It feels like the days have gone by so quickly as we’ve been dealing with the aftermath of the fire. There is still so much to take care of and process, but thankfully, we are safe and doing okay.

While we were evacuated, my friends took us in. They used to run a B&B, and there is a little cabin on their property where we stayed. Their property is surrounded by nature. There are neighbors nearby, but you can’t see them.

One day, I was walking around and saw a little bird sitting on a pole. I started talking to the bird, telling it how beautiful this place is. When I looked up, there were two birds.

Then I remembered how little birds had been frantically flying around when I left my town. I became so sad, and tears came to my eyes. When I looked up again, there were three birds.

I apologized to them for how humans had caused this fire and taken away their home. At that point, there were four birds, each sitting on a different pole. They were all listening to what I had to say.

A week later, I saw deer. I saw one at first, and then I saw two pairs of deer after that. My friend, who owns this property, told me that she had never seen a male deer here. I saw them twice.

A couple of weeks after that, I saw three bears walking together, side by side. My husband told me that you wouldn’t see three bears together like that unless you were in a zoo.

I felt like nature was telling me that everything is still going to be okay. I don’t know how it can be okay after so much has been burned.

But somehow, nature is giving me hope.

I can’t help but feel deeply grateful.

Love and Peace

Keiko