Talking to Animals
Shared by: Marina Berzins McCoy

One of the most influential aspects of my grandfather’s wisdom was not what he said but how he modeled a way of relating to the natural world. My grandfather talked to animals. Out loud. For example, if a woodchuck was digging up some plant in his garden, he’d go talk with it, perhaps saying in a warm, yet chiding voice, “What are you doing in my garden? This is not for you. Go find yourself some other food to eat. There’s a nice bunch of blackberries on the rock wall for you to visit.” My grandfather kept chickens and geese and would talk with them as he walked them out to the pond and back. He had no illusions that the animals understood his words, but he treated animals with friendship rather than as objects to be used. All of the natural world was his friend.

Read the rest of Marina Berzins McCoy’s reflection, What I Learned from My Grandfather About Courage and Nature.

(Photo by Abigail Lynn on Unsplash.)