Sometimes, when I see my neighbors strolling casually around our circular block, step by step with their dogs or families just for the fun of it, I find myself thinking about my other neighbors, the non-human fellow citizens that surround me in this good-natured neighborhood. I think of the birds first, who seem to sing by the thousands each morning these days, making the start of a day something like a dance. They live in their own special way among the trees beside our house, sometimes fluttering like friendly neighbors along the streets of the air. Then there are the earnest but easygoing squirrels, scampering and dashing here and there while some of us are finding friends to talk with on the street. The squirrels share our yards while we share words with our neighbors, and the subdued sounds of the squirrels can seem as pleasant as the passing of words among friends. I think this morning, too, of the tiny lives all around me, the mighty little insects that surely have their own concerns and duties, just as my neighbors and I do. While I’m waiting for my morning toast, flies and spiders on Riverbend Drive are doing their best to begin this day with their own particular kind of cordiality.
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