Yesterday Was a Bad Ol' Day
Yesterday was a bad day. A really bad day. Not the amusing kind of bad day that I seem to have...well...every.single.day...but a really, really, bad ol' day. As luck would have it, I planned to leave work early to go to a dental appt. at 1:00 PM and a haircut appt. at 3:30 PM. My dentist appt. which always take over an hour, got wrapped up in 35 minutes! Miracle of miracles! I had several errands I wanted to run before my haircut, but as I pointed my car west, I drew nearer and nearer to Heartland Farm. Before I knew what was happening, I had turned down the farm road and was on my way to healing. The heart knows what it needs.
I love to visit all of my feather and fur family, but the farm has recently rescued 7 female emus and I wanted to spend a little time with them. They had been roughed up a bit recently and were still nursing their superficial wounds, but despite being moved to a new home, and the hardships they had endured, they were calm, curious, and friendly. They were milling around in their enclosure, gently thrumming deep in their chests. I didn't know that that was the way they communicate; soft drumming between each other..
In the middle of their enclosure, their food bowl sat on a wooden box-much like an apple crate. I went over and sat on the edge of the crate, settled in and just relaxed. I concentrated on being silent (which for me takes immense concentration) and sending out calming energy to let them know that they were in a safe place and I was no threat to them. I didn't try to chase or touch the birds in any way. I just sat. And sat. And sat..
They were wandering all around, investigating their new home, and as the silence went on, they came closer and closer to where I sat. I could feel them starting to trust me and knew that they were wondering whether or not this purple, fleece-clad lump was a permanent fixture in their new enclosure. I noticed one of the birds perk up and listen when a songbird trilled outside, so by and by I started humming very softly...Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star....
All of the birds stopped what they were doing, stood up to their full heights, necks elongated and stared at me. It should have been scary. Seven, 6-foot plus birds with massive beaks and dinosaur talons focusing all of their energy on little old me; a mere 3 feet tall as I sat on the crate and only a little over 5' should I decide to stand up and challenge them. But it wasn't scary at all, It was really magical. They came off the 'alert' stance fairly quickly but continued to look at me. The thrumming between them increased. You could tell that they were discussing how was the weirdest little, purple, fleecy songbird they had ever seen perched on a box in their 'living room'.
I hummed a bit more and they wandered all around close to me. I sat so long that I had to do my errands after my haircut instead of before. It was totally worth it. I left feeling like a healing balm had soothed my soul. I had more perspective and I just knew that things were going to be OK, no matter what. Heartland's motto is 'People Healing Animals Healing People', and it couldn't be more apt. There's just something about spending time with those critters that is absolutely healing in a way that I can't comprehend or explain. I'm just so extremely grateful that it's there...especially on a day when I really needed it.
So thank you Seven Sister emus for trusting me, soothing and singing to my soul. And thank you Heartland, for doing what you do !
I love to visit all of my feather and fur family, but the farm has recently rescued 7 female emus and I wanted to spend a little time with them. They had been roughed up a bit recently and were still nursing their superficial wounds, but despite being moved to a new home, and the hardships they had endured, they were calm, curious, and friendly. They were milling around in their enclosure, gently thrumming deep in their chests. I didn't know that that was the way they communicate; soft drumming between each other..
In the middle of their enclosure, their food bowl sat on a wooden box-much like an apple crate. I went over and sat on the edge of the crate, settled in and just relaxed. I concentrated on being silent (which for me takes immense concentration) and sending out calming energy to let them know that they were in a safe place and I was no threat to them. I didn't try to chase or touch the birds in any way. I just sat. And sat. And sat..
They were wandering all around, investigating their new home, and as the silence went on, they came closer and closer to where I sat. I could feel them starting to trust me and knew that they were wondering whether or not this purple, fleece-clad lump was a permanent fixture in their new enclosure. I noticed one of the birds perk up and listen when a songbird trilled outside, so by and by I started humming very softly...Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star....
All of the birds stopped what they were doing, stood up to their full heights, necks elongated and stared at me. It should have been scary. Seven, 6-foot plus birds with massive beaks and dinosaur talons focusing all of their energy on little old me; a mere 3 feet tall as I sat on the crate and only a little over 5' should I decide to stand up and challenge them. But it wasn't scary at all, It was really magical. They came off the 'alert' stance fairly quickly but continued to look at me. The thrumming between them increased. You could tell that they were discussing how was the weirdest little, purple, fleecy songbird they had ever seen perched on a box in their 'living room'.
I hummed a bit more and they wandered all around close to me. I sat so long that I had to do my errands after my haircut instead of before. It was totally worth it. I left feeling like a healing balm had soothed my soul. I had more perspective and I just knew that things were going to be OK, no matter what. Heartland's motto is 'People Healing Animals Healing People', and it couldn't be more apt. There's just something about spending time with those critters that is absolutely healing in a way that I can't comprehend or explain. I'm just so extremely grateful that it's there...especially on a day when I really needed it.
So thank you Seven Sister emus for trusting me, soothing and singing to my soul. And thank you Heartland, for doing what you do !
Comments