This post is a tribute to some of the small creatures of nature that I pass by nearly every day when I’m out walking, but which are too often overlooked, and very often neglected in my blog.
I’ve written in the past about Perek Shira (literally, Chapter of Song) the mysterious and beautiful ancient text also sometimes known as the Song of Creation. Perek Shira is regarded as a “key to understanding the universe as a guide to life” (Rabbi Natan Slifkin, in Nature’s Song, 2001, p. 37), and each creature and element of the world around us has its own song. As Rabbi Slifkin writes, “The natural world embodies traits for us to emulate . . . something we can use as a living example from which to learn.”
Rabbi Slifkin compares the natural world with a symphony, “made up of a vast array of different components, all of which function together in perfect harmony.” (Nature’s Song, p.38). Just as in an orchestra, some pieces surely play greater and more important roles than others, yet every individual is essential to create the composite whole.
So it is in nature. Every tiny insect is important to the order and harmony of the natural world, just as are the larger creatures that we more often notice all around us.
Whether we look up toward the skies or glance at the ground or in the water below our feet, there are special moments that we may miss if we go too fast. From a distance, I initially mistook the young Frog in the top photo above for a floating leaf or a twig, and then I realized he was swimming with all his energy to reach the safety of a pond lily leaf. And this slender Water Snake slithered by me almost unseen among the reeds. How sad it would have been if I had not noticed them!
This female Red-winged Blackbird is another example of a little gem that I nearly walked right past. At first, I couldn’t see her, even after someone had pointed her out to me – but there she was, sitting on her cozy nest in full view of the walkway. What a joy~!
The verses of Perek Shira attribute many life lessons not only to living creatures (a disproportionately large number of which are birds, I must say), but also to the Elements of the Earth, the Elements of the Sky, and to the Trees and Plants. Just this week, I happened to notice many of these individual elements were captured in the photos I had taken on my recent walks – Hmmmm….
……More to come~
Birder's Journey 
Good job and good eye to spot these creatures which although small, are among the most fascinating.
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Thanks for your visit, Phil. It’s very easy to be distracted by our large wading birds here, and yet there is SO much else to see and enjoy and share.
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Very true it is the little things so many miss. And if only taking the time to stop an see… we learn and observe and of course, photograph so well. Wonderful tiny treasures you captured.
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Thanks so much for your thoughts, Donna! Glad you stopped by~!
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The foundation of my photo journal is the little things. I recall an inquiry regarding a post I published on Baltimore Checkerspot butterflies – common, little things here. Turns out they’re an endangered species, due to the loss of wetland habitats, in Maryland. The little thing became a big thing!!! .
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Wow – You never know!
Always enjoy seeing so many of our local birds on your blog when they reappear up in your area, Nick!
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Being close to Nature I feel being close to G-d and his creation. Beautiful post Carol! 🙂
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Absolutely – I couldn’t agree more, H.J.! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts – and for always sharing your birds with such care and commitment.
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Beautiful little things, great captures, Bj! They are difficult to capture…
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Thanks, Amy – yes, they are difficult, especially since I usually use a long lens! One day maybe I’ll get a real macro lens 😉 Glad you enjoyed them!
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And, you use long lens, incredible shots!!
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The photos are beautiful, as are the sentiments re the “little things”. Each one of them is important to the whole, in the scheme of things.
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Thanks Lorri. In the next week, I hope to write more about the ‘songs’ of the Perek Shira.
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Beautiful post exalting our beautiful God, we all live in the constant act of worship just as we interact with each other by Intelligent Design, yes in a beautiful symphony of harmony by us just ‘being’, who we are in our own beautiful unique way. Our worship chorus constantly is the delight, thanksgiving, gratitude and appreciation we experience. As I often say He delights in us delighting!
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Thanks so much, AB.
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