Unless you’ve been hiding out under a bush, you’ve probably read or heard about the wild fires that have been raging across Texas since early summer.  This past Labor Day weekend, those of us who live in Central Texas witnessed or experienced huge fires from Steiner Ranch to Pedernales Falls to Bastrop.  Some are still going on as I type this.  I love us Texans because we are a group of people who can really rally the troops when all hell breaks lose.  Already this morning every news station I turned to on the radio was giving out information of donation drops that had been organized overnight to help the victims of the fires as well as the men and women who are out there fighting the fires.

Having been born into a family that tends to go for the gusto when it comes to helping people in disastrous situations, my DNA began to thrum with questions of how I could best be of help, especially for the animals involved.  I had all kinds of ideas running through my head from going to help out a friend of mine’s mother-in-law who had lost her ranch, but rescued all her horses and in-door pets, to helping a fellow FB friend who had a lot of animals that she had to evacuate because of a fire.  No clear answer was coming to me, but I kept praying.

I puttered around doing my morning chores and put the garden hose into the pool to fill it up a bit turning  the nozzle lever off on the sprinkler attachment so that the water would come out of the regular spout and returned to finish reading the paper and my first cup of coffee.  Soon after I sat down the dogs’ curious movements outside the window caught my attention.  Our old Black Lab was in her high alert stance with all the hackles up on her back as she trotted to and fro on her toes and our Aussie was running back and forth along the edge of the pool with his nose close to the ground. At first, I mistakenly assumed that somehow the sprinkler attachment lever had been flipped and so they were getting excited because of the rigorous spray of water but then as I looked longer I could see that the commotion in the pool wasn’t just located at the end of the hose but was moving towards the other end of the pool.

And then I saw her.  A beautiful Morning Dove who had some how landed in the pool and was frantically trying to fly out of it with her very wet wings.  I corralled the dogs into the kitchen and returned to carefully rescue the startled Dove.   With both hands I gently cupped her up out of the water (and kissed her head to let her know I wasn’t going to eat her) and put her over near the water bowls where the birds gather to drink.  She sat on the edge of the fence very still. Something (was she communicating with me?) was letting me know that this Dove’s preference was for me to let her alone in a safe place outside so that she could gather herself after such a terrifying event.  I went back inside to retrieve a towel so that I could put it down on the fence for her to sit on while she dried off in the cool morning air but when I returned with the towel, I startled her so that she jumped off the fence.  She could only flutter on the ground  so I carefully cupped her and brought her back up to lay her on the towel in a  little Mourning Dove huddle.  I looked out the window every five minutes or so but she didn’t move a feather as far as I could tell and I’ve watched a lot of birds in my life.

All during this time, I kept battling between  the still knowing  inside of me that knew the best action to take was to leave her alone  so that she could use her own Dove wisdom to heal and that frantic insecure voice that says, “you should bring her inside and put her in a box and get her seed/water and gravel -n- grit….”.  Finally, at about twenty minutes later I want outside to check on her and as I opened the door she took off upwards and across our yard with a strong healthy flight.   Turns out, the still knowing was right.

I also believe my prayers about what to do for the animals effected by the fires was answered on the wing of a Dove.  I was reminded by a friend that many animals and birds have been savagely uprooted from their homes and will be flying and running to new territories all over the place. I know that one of the best actions I can take is to help those animals that come to our home.  Just before I got into the shower today, I looked out the bathroom window to see several Finches hanging and talking on their seed sock and right next to that Cardinals and other song birds hanging on their feeder and across the way doves and squirrels gathered around their feeders. On our porch were several families of Hummingbirds flitting around the feeders and a Cardinal was taking his morning dip in a watering bowl.  They all seemed happy and content which is always a good feeling for me when I can assist any living being in feeling happy and content.

How about you?  How have you received answers to the questions coming from your heart and head?

Mourning Doves