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Waiting in line a a now favorite time for me. I watch the interaction of the clerk with the customer before me and sometimes am rewarded with compassionate and thoughtful exchange. I witnessed such a moment while watching a clerk help a partially deaf and very old gentleman count out at an extremely slow pace all the change he could find in all his pockets. The clerk helped him count the money and treated him as he would have treated his elderly and feeble father - with kindness, respect and compassion. It made my day!

I live in the woods on a small farm that is sanctuary to our adopted and rescued dogs, horses, cats, ducks, chickens and rooster. I am use to hearing animals communicate with each other and me. One day I was working on a slope putting in native bushes and all of a sudden there was silence. At first I thought our resident red tailed hawk was scouting the area for his latest dinner. That was not the case. I listened more carefully and instead of a sound, I felt a presence. It was louder than a sound and yet no sound at all. I turned around and 3 feet away from me was standing a beautiful 3-4 year old doe deer. I sat and admired her and spent the next 30 -60 minutes with her. Her silent presence was loud enough for me to feel if not hear.

For years I was a garden and landscape designer. During that time I also was sending money to different organizations to keep bears from drowning due to climate change, keep the rain forests in S.A. from being cut down and saving wild horses from the BLM roundups in the wild west of our country (plus many, many other organizations trying to save a piece of the world). Daily I was bothered to see nothing was changing for the better no matter how much, or little I continued to send to these organizations. It was affecting my thoughts in the day and even my sleep. One restless night I had one of those moments, a new thought! I could change my landscape business into one based on environmental sound techniques and use only native plants that would then support native wildlife. It dawned on me that I could not change environments far away, but I could start on my own property and every property that I was hired to landscape. That thought of j12 years ago changed my life and all my thinking and actions. Although my actions are but a drop in the bucket, I now have a mission in life and am at the service of nature.

My husband and I live on a few acres that allows us to rescue many animals - dogs, horses, chickens, ducks, roosters and cats. They keep us grounded and become our constant teachers and loving companions. This past week, Tessie one of our 4 dogs, had to be put down due to a spreading cancer. She was 14 and a rescue from the South. Whenever one of out animals dies or is put down, the intense grief I experience opens me to being more in the moment and much more compassionate with all beings, including myself.