At a little after 7:00 this morning, we headed out for our walk. After a couple blocks of sunshine and birdsong, Emma decided it was time to relieve herself on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection lawn (shucks, no poop sack 🤷 ). As Zippy and I waited, a crow that’d been on the CBP roof flew down and dropped something furry a few feet from Emma. The crow hopped around as Zippy moved in for a closer look and announced, “It’s a mole.”

For whatever reason, the crow had gifted Emma/us with a dead mole! When we declined the gift (well, Zippy and I declined it without giving Emma a vote) and walked away, the crow picked up the mole and flew back to the CBP roof. That was a first for us. In Colorado, magpies regularly gifted us with pretty stones which we always thought were thanks for the peanut feeders and bird bath we provided. This dead rodent? A gift out of the blue.

Our second gift came later in the walk as we explored a street that was new to us. Suddenly, we were in dense forest where the air was clean and cool.

But it wasn’t only us in the forest. I looked down to see Gift #3 crossing the road:

I have no idea what kind of beetle this is (paging Mara at The Dirty Sneaker!) except that it was at least an inch long.

Later, after a stop at the local bakery for some muffins, we arrived back home where I cut some chard from our garden to add to my smoothie. When I went to wash out my blender, there was Wild Gift #4:

I know, I know. Most people aren’t fans of snails and their slime trails, especially not when they land on their dish cloths as a result of washing garden greens. But snails fascinate me. After watching it move about, I gently carried this one back outside to the flower portion of the garden. Slime away, funny snail!

So that’s my odd gratitude list. In this moment, I’m grateful for all the wildness in my life, big and small. These are very difficult days but as organizer Kelly Hayes says, there’s still so much left to fight for. Wishing everyone a day graced by the natural world. Solidarity!