I was standing outside near the compost heap.
The bin was open and I was putting unwanted sticks inside it, and suddenly I heard a small but definite sound.
I looked up and to my surprise, there was a kookaburra sitting on top of the fence less than a metre away from me.
It looked close to full-sized but the fluffy, super-clean feathers on the front of its body made me think it might be a big teenager.
It sat there, staring straight ahead, right at me. Then, a minute later, it turned its head to look at me sideways.
If I hadn't grown up with bush around me I would have found it scary to have a kookaburra--with its big strong beak and sharp claws--so close to me.
Instead, I was curious.
I assume that it too was curious about me.
Thus, I stayed there, continuing to slowly do my gardening tasks. And it stayed there, continuing to watch me break big sticks and put them in our big bin.
And then, without warning, I heard it fly off.
It had spotted a meal and was on the ground a few metres away.
With a grub in its mouth, it looked up at me, and then soon enough, it flew away, leaving me with only my memory of it and its fluffy, super-clean feathers.
Thanks Trevor McKinnon for taking this awesome photo of a kookaburra that looks so much like the one I saw.
I feel like I've been having more and more experiences of animals behaving differently around me the more I have healed past painful trauma.
It might be a coincidence but it seems to be that dogs who ignore most strangers surprise their owners humans when they just lap up the pats I give them.
And more birds seem to allow me to get close to them or seem to just show up close to me, than ever before.
I can't help but wonder if they can feel the kindness in my heart or the safety of my being somehow. It feels strange to say that out loud write that here but it feels like the most truthful thing to say as I am more present and kind and grounded than I've ever been.
It makes total sense that if other humans can feel it animals would too.
If you're an animal lover, have you seen or experienced this? If you have, tell me about it in the comments š I'd love to know.
š„šš¦š¦š¦«šš¦šš¦š¦šļøš¦š¢šš§šš¦š¦©š¦š¦¢š¦