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Angel Animals Story of the Week, 7-29-06, "Creature Teachers"
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Allen Anderson
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Aug 01, 2006 23:11 PDT
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Angel Animals Story of the Week
July 29, 2006
Visit us at www.angelanimals.net
Dear Friends of Angel Animals,
Welcome to the Angel Animals Story of the Week.
As most of you know, except for the new subscribers, about a month ago,
our beloved dog Taylor passed away. She was with us for twelve years and
we miss her terribly.
One of the newsletter subscribers, Connie Bowen, is a professional
artist. She offered to paint a portrait of Taylor for us. She said that
her portraits often bring comfort to people who have lost and want to
memorialize their pets. We decided to accept her offer. We sent her our
favorite photo of Taylor smiling.
This week, she sent us the portrait. We were speechless. It so closely
resembles her loving spirit that it takes our breath away. We wanted to
share the wonderful painting Connie Bowen created of Taylor. To view the
painting visit www.angelanimals.net/image068.html.
To visit Connie and see a display of her other portraits, go to
www.conniebowen.homestead.com/homepage.html or
www.conniebowen.homestead.com/petportraits.html. You can email Connie at
cbo-@europa.com. Connie has done the illustrations for Susan Chernak
McElroy's children's book among her many other credits. Some artists, as
you know, have the talent and the spiritual connection to create a
likeness of a person or animal that makes you feel as if you are with
them again. Connie is one of those rare artists.
The featured story this week is about how wildlife creatures can become
teachers if we only pay attention to what they are showing us.
We invite you to e-mail this week's newsletter in its entirety to others
who might enjoy it.
Animal blessings,
Allen & Linda Anderson
* * * * *
STORY OF THE WEEK
CREATURE TEACHERS
By Betty J. Rapin
Our tenants, Roy and Rachel Robins, came home from their yearly winter
timeshare down south. They arrived to discover their home was gone.
"Gone!" I could hear their frantic, indistinguishable sounds, as they
communicated with each other. They stood, briefly looking at the vacant
area. It was obvious that fear and panic had set in when they began to
rapidly walk around the ground where once stood their summer home.
Pausing for a moment, they stood silently looking toward my house as if
they knew I was the one who did the dastardly deed. Yeap! The robins,
the red-breasted tenants, had lived in a ninety-foot maple tree that
grew next to my kitchen door. Because of reasons beyond our control my
husband and I sadly agreed that the towering shade tree had to be cut
down. Our property has many trees, we reasoned, and the robins could
choose another one to use.
While I was eating breakfast, I saw Mr. and Mr. Robin walking and
chatting under the side porch patio swing. My imagination created an
instant scenario, and I described it to my husband. The conversation of
Roy and Rachel went like this:
"Um, this looks like a nice place to build a home."
Roy in his masterful way, puffed his red breast and said, "Well, maybe
we should look around first before making a decision."
Away they flew.
Five minutes later they returned, walking back and forth under the
awning to make sure it had all the amenities that they would require for
making a good place to raise their young. They began carrying one small
twig at a time to begin construction of a nest.
My husband, however, didn't want our yearly tenants so close to the
house since their droppings on the porch's carpet were hard to remove.
So he took a handful of aluminum foil, rolled it up, and tucked it
securely in the new spot the couple had chosen. As he was inserting the
foil I heard him say to the robins, "The variegated Norwegian maple
would make a great home for you to raise a family."
As the two birds flew past to check out what Richard was doing, my
husband raised his hand and pointed to the maple tree he had suggested.
"See; it is in close proximity to your last residence."
They would have none of that. Whoever coined the phrase birdbrain
didn't meet this particular pair of feathered beings. They were neither
silly nor frivolous; they were smart and serious in their mission. When
they saw the shiny lump of rolled-up aluminum foil taking up squatter's
rights on their spot, they didn't back off.
Roy stood on one side of the foil intruder and Rachel on the other.
Carefully they edged closer and closer, chattering to each other as they
did so. "What do you think it is?" Once again, masterful Roy no doubt
said, "Well, whomever or whatever it is will not stop me." He began to
peck at it. Rachel followed his lead and joined in the pecking.
By the end of the day the carpet on the floor of the porch was filled
with little pieces of foil. I had to give them credit for courage. I
admired their spunk at not giving up in the face of what must have
seemed a giant adversity to them.
Next day my husband decided to use something they couldn't peck away.
He put a terrycloth hand towel in place of the foil. He was confident
this would deter any further attempt by the robins to build a nest on
our porch. WRONG!
In a few hours Roy and Rachel Robin loosened the towel so that it was
not as compact. I was truly amazed at the sight. Roy assumed the pose
of a humming bird flying in midair. He took the corner of the towel in
his beak, tugging until half of it was pulled out of its resting place
and dangled it below the awning ledge. Rachel joined him by pulling at
another corner of the towel.
I was mesmerized and wanted to run for the camera to take a picture of
the spectacular event but knew it would be of no use. They flew away at
the sight of me behind the glass door. To watch them I had to stand out
of their viewing range.
I respect the unwavering patience and gutsy fortitude of this couple
working together against all odds. Two major big obstacles, aluminum
foil and terrycloth towel, did not deter their attempts to do what they
started out to do -- build a home. No birdbrain; that is for sure.
When I think of the many seemingly overwhelming obstacles in my life I
choose to walk away from rather than working out, I am embarrassed. I
realized these two tiny creatures were heaven-sent, bringing me a
message of hope.
For weeks I had been trying to make a decision on a personal matter
concerning my writing efforts. Should I stick with freelance writing or
pursue my dream of writing a book? The change would certainly alter my
life, taking me out of my comfort zone into unfamiliar areas. In fact I
thought it was too much to bite off at my age of seventy-five, too late
to even begin the project. Until now I had about given up my dream.
But these wonderful creature teachers taught me a lesson in persistence
and love.
Roy and Rachel, in their struggle to secure a place for the survival of
their young, had taught me a great lesson. Nothing was too big for them
to bite off as they pecked away together to succeed. Forbearance; that
is what I need. Thanks to my feathered friends I have decided to forge
ahead no matter what my mind conjures up as obstacles.
Grandma Moses became a famous painter at the age of eighty. Get ready
world, here I come. Grandma BJ is on her way to being an author. Look
for me in your local bookstores when I do my book signing. How's that
for positive thinking?
As for Roy and Rachel, the battle goes on. Today my husband announced
he would insert a block of wood in the birds' chosen nesting spot above
the porch. I laughed. The image of a woodpecker came to mind.
BIO:
Betty is a minister and inspirational speaker who teaches adult
education. She has been published in newspapers, magazines, and
newsletters and is a contributing author to a book of poetry and the
book CONSCIOUS WOMEN/CONSCIOUS CAREERS, edited by Darlene Montgomery.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:
What are wild creatures teaching you about persistence or other
spiritual virtues?
* * * * *
ANGEL ANIMALS QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat."
-- Robert Heinlein
"Wisdom usually does not fall from high places. The mighty and the
splendid have taught me little. I have learned more from my dog than
from all the great books I have read. The wisdom of my dog is the
product of his inability to conceal his wants. When he yearns to be
loved, there is no pouting in the corner. There are no games entitled
'Guess what is the matter with me.' He puts his head on my lap, wags
his tail, and looks up at me with kind eyes, waiting to be petted. No
professor or sage ever told me I might live a more successful life if I
simply asked for love when I needed it."
--Gerry Spence, HOW TO ARGUE AND WIN EVERY TIME
"My little dog---a heartbeat at my feet."
--Edith Wharton
"Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a
function."
-- Garrison Keillor
"All knowledge, the totality of all questions and all answers is
contained in the dog."
--Kafka
"Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or
discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is
to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace."
--Milan Kundera
* * * * *
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BOOKS by Allen and Linda Anderson:
Go to Amazon.com or bn.com for descriptions of these books and
recommendations from those who have read them.
ANGEL DOGS: Divine Messengers of Love, by Allen and Linda Anderson,
published by New World Library, with a foreword by Willard Scott.
RAINBOWS & BRIDGES: An Animal Companion Memorial Kit by Allen and Linda
Anderson, published by New World Library.
ANGEL CATS: Divine Messengers of Comfort
GOD'S MESSENGERS: What Animals Teach Us about the Divine
ANGEL ANIMALS: Exploring Our Spiritual Connection with Animals.
All of Allen and Linda's books are available at online or regular
bookstores, some Costco stores, and at many gift shops that sell animal
books. ANGEL CATS and ANGEL DOGS are also available through One Spirit
Book Club.
COMING SOON:
RESCUED: Saving Animals From Disaster by Allen and Linda Anderson, New
World Library (August 2006). Visit www.rescuedsavinganimals.net for a
preview of the book.
ANGEL HORSES: Divine Messengers of Hope by Allen and Linda Anderson, New
World Library (September 2006).
* * * * *
OTHER INFORMATION
The Angel Animals Network is devoted to collecting and disseminating
original, true stories about the spiritual connection between people and
animals. You can learn more about the Angel Animals at
www.angelanimals.net.
If you send this newsletter to others (and we hope that you will),
please don't change it in anyway and include the information above about
the Angel Animals Network. Thank you.
This newsletter is sent to you by the Angel Animals Network. Copyright
2006, Allen and Linda Anderson, Angel Animals Network. All rights
reserved. Nothing in this newsletter may be reproduced or published
without the written permission of the individual authors and/or
copyright owners. Angel Animals(r) is a registered trademark.
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