A Slice of Moon and A Planet

I look up in the dark and find that a slice of moon and a nearby planet look friendly to me.

Here at my home, at the back of a large field and distant from the road, my family are the animals and birds: deer, antelope, and fox, House Sparrows, Red-vented Bulbuls, Mynas, House and Big Beak Crows, Black Drongos, Babblers, Little Green Bee-eaters, Indian Chats, Purple Sunbirds, Indian Robins, Red-wattled Lapwings, White-throated Kingfishers, Laughing Doves, and Common Hoopoes.

I have a wide, sliding-glass window above double sinks in the kitchen with yellow khadi curtains pushed back for the view east. An early, orangey-red ball rises above the jali brick wall. A young neem tree, tall as the ground floor, befriends a stone bird bath. To the west I see the curved skim milk of the morning moon.

With the first bird to arrive I say, “Good morning, Sparrow. I love you. Welcome. Thank you for welcoming me to your land.” I continue to note which birds come while I put away dishes, blend papaya, purple grapes, and fresh figs into a sauce and start basmati rice in the pressure cooker.

I’m occasionally asked how I like living here and don’t I feel alone. My answers are, “I do” and “No.” Companionship is a feeling and not a requirement for people. When I moved into the neighborhood, I accepted my neighbors as they were—winged and four-footed—as my friends.

My realization is, "God is everything, even the ant and the sparrow. Nature offers many nurturing opportunities to enjoy."