Gratitude for critters

I’m grateful for the critters in my life, from our ravaging raccoon garden invader to my indoor menagerie (two cats and a water turtle). They are alive, relentlessly themselves, intelligent, alien neighbors.

They show me my humanness, and I love the grace and attention they demand from me. They slow me down and pull me off my egocentric races to wherever by reminding me how big and beautiful a world there is outside myself.

Photos by Penina S. Finger

This little guy utterly destroyed my camellia plant.

Samus and me