How close is too close?

How close is too close?  This little fella doesn't seem to mind my desire to be close to it.  

 He seems content, curled up, front paw tucked into his fur.  Inquisitive look on his face.  I think he found me as interesting as I found him.  As I circle around the tree we both seem to be keeping our eyes on each other.

 I really like nature from a distance so being this close to a wild animal is a little scary I think being this close to a human might be scary for him too.

  But....I had to push the limits....

 And I did.  The cute little squirrel was no longer cute or seemed little it's cute little paw was no longer tucked into it's fur it's claws were out.  I had taken one step too close with the big, black, flashy item covering my face and he was over it.  He hissed and spat at me and I ran.  See the camera shake in the photo? 

 This big ferocious animal showed me and now I know how close is too close.  

Missed the Cardinal but Found the Rainbow

Today was  a very cloudy rainy day in Eastern Iowa and with this weather it seems to excite the birds in my neighborhood somehow. Excited birds bring out my shutterbug as most things do, so that is not much of a big deal.  However, out of the corner of my eye I could see the elusive cardinal I have been trying to get a good clean crisp photo of.  Seems the cardinal is camera shy and every time I focus in, it disappears.  Not easily daunted today I went outside in the cold mist, barefooted, bath robe on, camera in hand.  I am searching and searching for the cardinal that keeps moving around, not staying still long enough for me to capture a good photo.  Don't get me wrong, I have tons of blurry photos of cardinals and photos with a teeny tiny cardinal, or red leaf, can't tell the difference in the photo.  That has been my luck with cardinals.  I can capture red robins, red headed wood peckers, song birds, even a red tailed hawk but not the cardinal.      Determined as ever to get "that one shot" I almost missed the most beautiful sight of the morning.  As I turned to check one more time for the cardinal in the evergreen tree something caught the  corner of my eye.  A beautiful, glorious, rainbow.  I immediately thought, wow this is a forest for the trees thing, then of course I took the photos.

Isn't that just the way we live life, or I do, so focused on the immediate need or wants and not looking for the other blessings that are out there?  Had this not caught my eye as I was headed in, I would have missed a beautiful sight a sight that touched my heart. A significant sight for me and probably others.   I don't often see rainbows, not like when I was a child, so am I too focused on the cardinals in my life to notice or are they more rare?  It has given me much to ponder on this rainy Iowa day.  And I hope and pray that I will look for the rainbow on the next rainy day and let what may catch the corner of my eye after I see the wonder of it all.

Song of Solomon 2:15

Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.