These days I have taken to morning walks, short strolls in the garden before starting my day. What began as a chance to stretch my legs and take in some fresh air is now a daily discovery. New flowers I had not observed previously. How different the leaves of various plants and trees are.
And then the songs.
There are more birds in the garden than I can spot easily but today I see a flash of white and brown, a tickle of gold. The sweet, bubbly notes that roll upon one another, like ripples in a stream.
My songbird is a yellow-vented bulbul. Pycnonotus goiavier. Her vagabond calls is music to my ears. Lightens my heart. Brings a smile to my face.
And then the colours.
The flutter of iridescent wings: the chequered swallowtails whose kohl-ringed vermilion flare light up amongst the orange birds-of-paradise; the cycad blues that play hide-and-seek by the palm-like cycads from which they derive their name; the tiniest ones – flashes of obsidian – that dart this way and that, drawing random circles around me before disappearing into the shadows, the shade of the trees.
Their colours and their languorous flight paths caress my mind, call me into a state of meditation. I smile, drawn by their subtle drama amongst the blossoms, those brief blooms.
And then the curious.
These clatter of claws on branches, these leaping from one giant palm leaf to another, the manic klik!klik! of their nervous reverie. Almond shaped eyes, pools of black. Twitching whiskers. A russet belly, then bars of ebony and ivory.
The plantain squirrel is our garden squirrel.
They will chase each other if they are in the mood. Territorial dispute or simply another season in heat? Who knows? But they are otherwise unperturbed although they always seem restless. One approaches me, climbing down head first, a palm fruit in its front paws.
Is he offering me a gift? Probably not, though I smile at the idea. At any rate, he is curious, though never docile.
Soon the squirrel decides I am not that interesting after all and he is gone. I smile, for I am as much a discovery for him as he is for me.
And I realise that there is always a reason to smile, if we look around us, if we open up and welcome the mornings with a sense of discovery, if we embrace all the colours and the beauty and the songs.