It's the Tiny Things - Outside my front door

My creatures and blooms ✨🌙

I got up early this Sunday morning to walk the botanical gardens. As I drove up the street, I heard a click-click as the tire hit the pavement. I pulled over to find a huge bold embedded in the treads. There was a time when this would have unhinged me.

I went back home, and here I sit on my couch. The window is open, and the sound of bird chatter echoes through my living room. I open the window so Midge can smell the fresh air and feel the sun on her face.

Outside my door, a lizard has commandeered my doormat. Each morning, when I open the door, I find him stretched out, sunbathing. Midge lunges at him the way a cat would. He darts behind my jasmine plant, but when we return, he’s right back in his warm spot, as if nothing happened.

We have had 80-degree weather for a week now, and it made my jasmine bloom early. Have you ever smelled jasmine in bloom? It is one of the best smells in the world.

I also have two flourishing Golden Pothos plants on my porch. A friend of mine gave me a few stalks with roots and told me she propagated them at home. This was ten years ago, before I knew how to keep a plant alive. It was the first plant I learned to grow.

The Golden Pothos vines frame my doorways inside and out. On my porch, it has harbored bird nests, crickets, spiders, and even a mouse. Today, it houses baby snails.

Camellia bloom & Golden Pothos Plant

I have been finding baby snails every day: in my birdfeeder, on my front door, in the camellia blooms. I have this urge to take them and put them in my terrarium. I want to watch them closely. I want to see a snail eat their breakfast. But the thought of removing them from this beautiful world, capturing them, caging them, makes me too sad.

It makes me think of going to the mall on a Sunday: the frustration of finding a parking spot, being packed in a slow-moving crowd, standing in line to spend money on things I don’t even really want. It makes me never want to waste another moment doing things that waste my precious time.

I love sitting here listening to the birds sing. I want to take a new route on my walk today, not knowing what I will discover. I’ve been stumbling into the tiniest little goldfinch - and they feel like magic. I have a spark of an idea for my next art piece, and I cannot wait to begin.

The secret to the universe. It was always right outside my door. Sometimes I feel sad that I walked right past it for so long. I spent so much time searching, so much time feeling like better things are waiting for me. And all along, there they were, right outside my front door.

Until Next Time 🌙 ✨
Kim

P.S. Please leave a Tiny Thing below!

Each year, birders around the world take part in something quietly magical: The Great Backyard Bird Count (Feb 13-16th). For a few days, people step outside, look around, and notice the birds sharing their neighborhoods.

Those simple observations help scientists track where different species are living and breeding – all that good, important stuff that helps protect them.

Want to join in? It’s easy. Just download the eBird app and start noticing.

And if you’re thinking, “But I don’t know the names of birds…” — let me introduce you to the free, truly magical Merlin Bird ID app. You can listen to a bird’s song, and Merlin will tell you exactly who’s singing. It feels like having a tiny bird whisperer in your pocket.

Honestly, it’s one of the most delightful things ever. It’s taught me the names and songs of so many birds right here in my own neighborhood – and once you start noticing them, you can’t stop. 🐦✨