Saturday, May 10, 2014

Mother's Day 2014

Well, I'm sitting here at my computer and for the last several days I've been trying to come up with something significant to write about for Mother's Day. And can I come up with something that ties into gardening? Now, maybe I need to reverse that thinking. I should be thinking about gardening and how can I tie that into Mother's Day....



Well, it got me thinking.... (if I can stay off the computer long enough to do that). . .

Look around at Nature. . . So complete in its entirety. . .


Female (left) and Male (right) Red-breasted Mergansers*


Think of the birds. They know exactly what kind of nest to make and where to make it. Is it on the ground, in a tree, in a nesting box??? Is it made out of mud, sticks, moss, feathers, fur/hair??? 



And how do they know what to feed their babies? Worms, bugs, fruit or berries?



These are natural inherent attributes. How does a bird know this? No one tells them how to do it, they just know. They have internal characteristics that let them know what to do and when to do it.


Same with bugs, snakes, mammals, and all animals. They just know what they need to do to exist.








Same with flowers- how do flowers know how to bloom? They don't even have a brain. They just are living, but they inherently know how to live, exist and do what they are supposed to do- attract a pollinator and produce seeds.


















Royal Star Magnolia



As human mothers and fathers, we instinctively know what we need to do to raise our infants and children. They need to be fed, clothed, kept warm, sheltered, nurtured, and protected from harm and other important factors.




Some of us are aunts or uncles, and we're there to help out our families when needed and called upon.

Even if we have not been blessed with children, we also have a responsibility to our families, extended families, and our communities to help in raising children by setting good examples.




We all know what we need to do. . . Just BE!




"The babe at first feeds upon the mother's bosom, but is always on her heart."
~Rudyard Kipling





Happy Mother's Day!



* Red-breasted Mergansers: they are a large diving duck with a long, thin bill. They are found in large lakes, rivers, and the ocean. It prefers salt water more than the other two varieties of mergansers. (The Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

#MothersDay  #Birds  #Nature  #Photography #Robin  #RoyalStarMagnolia  #RedBreastedMerganser 

Thanks for stopping by.
Feel free to leave a comment. . .

10 comments:

  1. Sue,
    As usual you have written a great blog. Your Mother's Day issue is a great tribute to all Mother's and all that nature holds dear. Thanks again and you enjoy your day. Hope to catch in the upcoming week when we come to camp for a few days before my trip later this month.

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    1. Thank you so much Linda. You have a wonderful day tomorrow as well. Looking forward to catching up with you this week.

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  2. This is a beautiful post, Sue. Thank you!

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  3. A very thought provoking post. The thing with animals and birds, they may not be doing it out of love, but out of the need to send off their gene pool. I wonder if love is involved during the caring process though? When it ends, the offspring get "kicked out" which seems not very loving from our perspective. And as for humans, there are a lot of examples lately of moms gone horribly wrong. One has to wonder if that is a hardwire problem? Makes me think we don't all have that "mom" gene.

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    1. Thank you, Donna. I've seen animals (especially cats and dogs) be very loving to their offspring when they are nurturing them. I'm sure it must happen with other species of animals as well. And it makes me wonder why so many animal species, particularly birds, are monogamous.
      And like you said, we've heard a lot about problem moms in the media, and they each have their own individual issues, but instinctively, we all (or I should say most of us) know "right from wrong", and what we need to do to care for our offspring.

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  4. Sue what a wonderful post...I often think how birds know what to do

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    1. Thank you, Donna. I often wonder myself. There is so much about the natural world that we just don't know and never will. Thanks for commenting.

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