You Scratch My Back and I'll ...

 Symbosis is a deal struck between two animals or plants, or plants and animals which benefits both, such as the bee gathering pollen and fertilizing the flower and fish which safely live with sea anemones, eating small invertegrates that would otherwise harm the anemones.   Volumes could be written about ants and their symbiosis with aphids and others.  There are symbiotic relationsships between certain bacteria and us.  They live in our intestines to help us digest food and some vitamins and on our skins to kill viruses.  The list is endless.

The other day I got to thinking about symbiosis and the birds and animals in our backyards.  They gather around our houses in great numbers because we feed them - intentionally or not.  Sometimes we leave scraps around the house which they eat and then they hang around.  The clover in our yards,which this rabbit in my yard is enjoying, is in abundance not usually found in woods.

This rabbit and another live underneath my back deck.  I can get quite close to them and they don't seem scared unless I make a quick movement.  I wonder what they think of this lumbering, slow creature who doesn't seem like a predator.

This is very unscientific but I can see an abstract kind of symbosis between us and these animals and birds.  Certainly they gain more as far as survival goes, but they do give something to us - beauty and appreciation of where we stand in this earth journey we are all in. This is not to be taken lightly.  I personally believe that it should be one of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, along with air, food, water, sleep, shelter - appreciation of the world around us. 

I can't imagine what life would be like without this plethora of other life around us.  If we but take the time to investigate and look, really look, at what is all around us, the rewards are tremendous.  And everything we discover leads to a new and sometimes even better discovery.

Our appreciation of "other" life give us positive insights about our relationships with other people, too.  It is human nature to communicate to others what we find enjoyable and we get a special feeling when they act upon that.  It is one of the reasons we teach our children, or should, to appreciate the world outside our door.

I grew up in a working family that didn't stress this kind of thing, rather concentrating more on our basic needs and I sort of had an epiphany later in life when I was hunting and fishing and had a lot of time to think.  Sadly, many people go about their lives not noticing the wonders that are around them all of the time.  I want my eulogy to include,"He saw beauty and it gave him immense joy and pleasure."

In college freshman English we were required to memorize John Keats' first lines to "A Thing of Beauty is a Joy For Ever."  He said it better than any I have ever read or heard:

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

"a sleep full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing..."  What more do we really need?