Yesterday I saw a whitetail doe playing with a red fox in our backyard.

I was folding laundry when, out of the corner of my eye, I caught something move outside the bedroom window.  As I stepped closer to check it out, I found the doe leaping in place, and wondered what the heck was going on.

I sat on the edge of the windowsill and waited for nature to bestow her gift.

After a minute or two, I noticed a beautiful red fox peeking from behind a tree in the field.  Each time his head popped out, the doe backed up, leaped in the air, and then waited for the fox to make his next move.

As the fox inched closer, the doe backed up again, then pranced forward a few steps, jumped, and landed in place.  This little dance went on for several minutes before the deer jumped over a stone wall into the woods with the fox following close behind.

I love living in the country.  Honestly there are times when I fantasize about making a home somewhere deep in rural Montana or Wyoming, a place in the middle of the woods without a neighbor in sight.  But then I remember how important my friends and family are to me and how much I love our sweet community, and I feel grateful for the piece of country we have right here.

Nature is energy.  We are energy.  And we all move and breathe within the same field.  These days I notice that the quieter I am, the quieter my life is actually, the more nature speaks to me.  Scenes like the one with the doe and fox happen more frequently, connecting me to the magic and spirit of the natural world.

Just the other night I had a dream that a raccoon was enjoying dinner at the bird feeder off of our back deck.  I woke at midnight, shortly after the vision, feeling like it was more real than a dream.  Sure enough, the next day when I checked the webcam pointed toward the backyard, I saw a raccoon sitting on the deck, just after midnight, eating the seed.

There is so much more to life and our existence than meets the eye, isn’t there?

A relationship with nature is such important self-care, not only for us but also for the planet.  Nature invites presence.  It seduces us into the moment where we lose the self that runs our daily lives (the personality), and connect to our true essence (the soul).  It’s this connection I’m more taken with these days.

We need to cultivate a stronger relationship with our spiritual selves in order to raise our consciousness – the energy that animates life – and nature helps us do that.  Technological advancement without consciousness is dangerous. We need only look at what’s happening to our air, our food, and the planet herself to see evidence of this truth.

In the autumn stage of life, I find myself more and more interested in the dance between humans and nature.  Whether I’m hiking in the woods, walking along the seashore, or listening to a tree moaning in the wind, I feel in tune with the energies of the wild and they respond in kind.  A hawk comes to rest on a nearby branch.  Squirrels build nests outside the kitchen window.  Geese fly overhead in the middle of the night and enter my dreams as they call to each other while sailing through the air.

Social media has actually helped to foster my relationship with nature.  In the beginning, I took photographs of the birds and animals I’d find in the neighborhood and post them to delight my readers.  Now I balance this desire with presence, often taking in the gifts I see for myself first.

But I do love sharing what I find with others.  I wish I’d been able to take a video of the dance between the doe and the fox to share with you because I suspect you’d be inclined to fall more deeply in love with the world outside your window, too.

And the thought of that makes my day… 

xo Cheryl

P.S.  I’ll be on Facebook Live this Tuesday (1/8) at 6pm EST/3pm PST. If you miss it, you can watch past sessions on my YouTube channel at CherylRichardsonTV here.

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