{"id":163164,"date":"2025-08-02T21:29:51","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T01:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/?p=163164"},"modified":"2025-08-02T21:32:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T01:32:18","slug":"nature-and-not-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/?p=163164","title":{"rendered":"Nature. And Not Nature."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I was watering the garden on a recent morning, staring out into space with hose in hand. From the corner of my eye I registered my neighbor\u2019s dog moving around their yard. I was looking through the picket fence that divides our property so I saw only bits of his golden coat between the slats. I wondered why he wasn\u2019t barking at me like he usually does. He\u2019s a good size dog. I went back to aiming the hose at the garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"720\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1280 \/ 720;\" width=\"1280\" controls src=\"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Young-Buck.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When I glanced up again, a small set of antlers was floating over the top of the fence. Just little horns. And then he lifted his head, looked over at me with minimal interest before jumping the fence into my yard. It was he who I\u2019d seen &#8212; not a dog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Young buck stepped across the wood chips under the peach trees, nibbling at the weeds before leisurely continuing on to the side of my house. I dashed inside, grabbed my phone and quietly went out the front door, hoping to capture a photo or video. I know deer are common in many neighborhoods around here but not in my fairly urban one so this encounter felt magical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Creatures have been showing up in my yard a lot this summer. Another recent day, while washing my dishes and gazing out the window over the sink, I saw a good size coyote saunter through the side yard. A little alarming but all are welcome. Especially now that I don&#8217;t have a little dog to worry about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The regulars are also still here including an abundance of chipmunks and squirrels and of course, birds. And the groundhog. I say \u2018the\u2019 because this year I have only seen one. And it is not the one I remember from last year. Likely, there isn\u2019t just one but I pretend there&#8217;s one so I don&#8217;t feel overwhelmed. But truth is, there are holes galore around here and that makes me think there are groundhogs-galore too.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are rabbits. More of them than groundhogs, I&#8217;m sure. I\u2019m fond of bunnies, especially when they are babies. This year the little ones seem particularly fearless, continuing to nibble the grass even as they see me approach. That\u2019s what happened a few days ago when I went out to pick some zinnias. I greeted the little guy: \u201cHello, little bunny! You\u2019re quite the brave one, aren\u2019t you?\u201d I unhooked the gate to the rickety fence of the garden where the zinnias are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/triciatierneyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_0589-scaled.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"880\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/triciatierneyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_0589-scaled.jpg?resize=660%2C880\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-163166\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/triciatierneyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_0589-scaled.jpg?w=1920 1920w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/triciatierneyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_0589-scaled.jpg?resize=225%2C300 225w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/triciatierneyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_0589-scaled.jpg?w=1320 1320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>(A sibling?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I bent over to snip my flowers, a whoosh-whoosh caused me to turn. Flying away was a bird of prey &#8211; one with feather leggings and a very large wing span. It had swooped in just behind me, only a few feet away. Yes: brave bunny had been spotted and snatched. Little squeaks faded into the distance as the massive bird flew across the rooftops with its meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I stood in shock, zinnias in hand, I searched the lawn but I knew it was gone. I was heartbroken. Yet this is nature. I know that. And I love birds of prey &#8211; not just little bunnies. (I only wish it had taken a chipmunk or squirrel. Is that terrible?) Surely bunny\u2019s mother would be looking for it?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you imagine? Someone just swooping in and taking your loved one as they\u2019re going about their business? This is what predators do. This is what\u2019s happening now, every day to (mostly brown people) in our community. The hawks&#8217; behavior makes sense. What these masked thugs are obediently doing <em>does not make sense<\/em>. Not to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I will never forget nor forgive the evil of what is being done to our neighbors, our brothers and sisters. I hope you feel the same. We must support and protect each other. Suggestions welcome.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was watering the garden on a recent morning, staring out into space with hose in hand. From the corner of my eye I registered my neighbor\u2019s dog moving around their yard. I was looking through the picket fence that divides our property so I saw only bits of his golden coat between the slats. &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/?p=163164\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Nature. And Not Nature.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[20,12],"class_list":["post-163164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-grief","tag-nature"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pPzTS-GrG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=163164"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163168,"href":"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163164\/revisions\/163168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=163164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=163164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/triciatierneyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=163164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}