Little Crow/Friends in Paradise

When I first decided to write this post, it followed a conversation with a blogging friend Lara trace hentz. She is a wonderful writer, friend of the Earth and its indigenous peoples, and a conscientious objector to the suppression of the unfortunate ugly history of the treatment of Native peoples and their children. Our exchange was about crows. I was telling her that crow has been playing an integral part in my life in recent years, especially since I lived in Costa Rica and I was inspired to share that experience with you as well as introduce you to a couple more of the many natural world friends I made while I was in Paraadise,  sitting on my little patio….

And this was my view….

Magnificent, right? I can’t begin to tell you how my heart aches to see this view. There were so many peaceful days spent looking out at those mountains, some of the happiest of my adult life barring those spent with my children and grandchildren. I only wished they could have all shared it with us. But…I was not alone or without little ones to keep me company.

For the first time in my life I saw a real black squirrel! Don’t laugh, all you black squirrel states out there. We just don’t have them much in the Southern states. And they move very quickly, hence the blurred photo-the only one I managed to get.

Then there was the day the stray dog showed up. She was thin, scared and hurt. My heart broke for her and I didn’t know if she was wild or rabid; and when I talked to her she was timid and never stopped moving. I gave her water, some food; and although she drank heartily, she couldn’t stand still long enough to eat much and would not allow me to approach her very closely.

Fortunately there is a great animal group in Quepos called PAWS that serves to protect and find homes for the many stray dogs that were wandering the city streets and to educate people on animal care and help with immunizations and placement. I gave them a call and they knew the dog by description. She had apparently been wandering for weeks, put out by her former owners and continuously driven away by each place she sought refuge, sometimes whipped. People can be so thoughtless and cruel about animals. A man with the group already knew the dog and came quickly, saying  they had been trying to pick her up but she always eluded them, afraid and hurt. This time she was just too exhausted and went with him without much objection.

The next weekend I stopped by the PAWS tent at the Feria to inquire about her and was told I had just missed her, that she was recovering nicely but had badly infected skin and bare paws, the reason she was pacing constantly. She just couldn’t rest. They had to shave her but her hair was already growing back in and she would be placed in a new home as soon as she was strong enough. He invited me to stop by the shelter and visit her, but when we went she had already been moved. I never saw her again but felt we were destined to meet, that she knew where to come for solace and comfort. I hope so anyway.

Well….that leaves us with Little Crow, or crows as it were, for at times he brought a friend. This little guy showed up a couple of months after we moved in and stayed with us for most of the time we were there.

 

This little bird showed up like clockwork at sunrise every morning, tap-tapping and chirping at my bedroom glass windows and doors. If I got up and went to make coffee, he went around to the front windows and doors to continue his ritual.

 

And…

The tapping did not cease until I opened the door and said good morning. I even tried sharing some food but it really wasn’t what they wanted. Once our morning greetings had been shared, they might hang around in a tree for awhile but the tapping would stop.

 

Little Crow was with me until I left and I treasured its presence. Since that time Crows seem to find me everwhere, often the first sounds I hear in the morning and flitting into nearby trees when I go to lunch or leave work, always squawking at me. I need to learn to speak Crow, but for the time being I try to tune in to its Spirit.

I have some wonderful books written by Ted Andrews about the language of animals and how we can interpret their presence in our lives. What he says about Crow really resonates with me, especially at this time.

“..there is a very good reason that crows are found everywhere. Traditionally, they are symbolic of magic. They squawk and call out to everyone. This should remind you constantly that magic is around You at all times, just calling out for you to use it within your own life. The behaviors, movements, and activities of the crows you specifically encounter will help you to understand how to apply magic in your life.” 

I believe they are with me to encourage me to believe in my personal power, that I am not as small as I often perceive myself to be…..

Thanks Little Crow. Thank you Mother Earth. Great Spirit breathes and lives within everything that exists.

The secret magic of Creation is calling…