Wandering into a Sunflower Patch in My Own Backyard

If there is one thing that this website is all about, it is that you can wander anywhere! When you allow yourself to see what is already here, you can have an amazing adventure no matter where you are!

I found this out once again last week when I wandered by the sunflower patch in a corner of the cohousing community where I live. One of my neighbors was hoeing weeds, and I thought I would help out by asking how she was doing.

While talking, we all of a sudden noticed that we were surrounded by small gray birds that were probably bushtits. There were three or four birds on every sunflower stalk. Most of them were hanging upside down picking off small bugs crawling on the bottom of the leaves.

Once a leaf was cleared of bugs, the birds would then flitter over to another leaf. They were literally swirling around us as they were working the patch.

Because we were quiet and non-threatening we were able to get within a foot or two to watch them.  We were close enough to see all of their characteristics and were able to identify them as bushtits. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me to get a picture. (Click here for more information on bushtits.)

Earlier today I went back to the sunflower patch to see if I could get a picture of the birds. There weren’t any birds, but there was plenty else going on.

There were bumble bees, honey bees, and butterflies flittering from flower to flower sucking up nectar. On the ground, there were several fresh shallow holes dug by our neighborhood skunk looking for grubs. And there was the peacefulness of just being there observing all that was going on.

Adventure and wonder do not require a special expedition. You can find it by being still. A week or so ago, the dogs and I were hiking late in the afternoon through a meadow in an opening of a wooded trail. The dogs didn’t feel like going further, so we sat down and just watched.

There were over twenty types of wildflowers around us. There were butterflies and other insects flying around from flower to flower. And right beside us there were caterpillars climbing on the stalks of grass.

Because we were sitting, we were looking across the meadow at eye level with the flowers. And with the low angle light of the late afternoon sun the flowers and grasses were lit up in colors you cannot describe. And it was quiet. It was a moment of absolute calm.

You can find magical moments like these anywhere. All you have to do is to be quiet and be right here right now and just observe. And even if you go back to the same place over and over again, it will be different every time you go there.

For example, David George Haskell visited the same square meter of land deep in the middle of the woods on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee over the course of a year and wrote an amazing bestselling book called The Forest Unseen. If you like to observe the details of nature, I’m sure you will enjoy it. (Click here for information on the book.)