Clocks

I have three alarm clocks at my home. They each go off at three different times and the same time every day. The first is Maggie, my Australian Shepherd, she jumps off the bed about 5:30 every morning, then comes Addison, my other Australian shepherd who begins to move about the bed around 6:30 am. If that doesn't get me up they send in the big guns, Takla, my Lhasa Apso. And so it was this morning except that I must of hit the snooze button Takla because around 7:30 this morning I can feel these eyes just staring at me. I opened one of my sleep filled eys and there is Takla about 3" from my face staring at me. The message was loud and clear, "You're late and I have to go to the bathroom"! Needless to say once my feet hit the floor they are all looking for the door.

I find it interesting that animals like ourselves have internal clocks they go by. They get into our routines and rhythms and count on that consistency from us. If that routine should be disrupted they will let you know about it. Do you have a furry clock at your house? Maybe it is not an early morning clock, maybe it is a middle of the night clock? What is your internal clock telling you?

Wild animals also have their internal clocks they go by. The Emperor Penguins amaze me! If you haven't seen the movie "March of the Penguins" I would recommend it They spend their entire lives on the Antartic ice. After they mate the female goes off in search of food that is 50 to a hundred miles away. It is the males that stay behind to keep the egg warm and out of the cold until it is ready to hatch. The males huddle together in the fridgid sub-artic tempetures. They are in continous motion as they take turns being on the outside, out of the cold. They circle in perfect unison as if it were a choreographed dance. They spend about 65 days doing this continual movement until the females, now flush with food, return to the breeding grounds. All this time the males have gone without food.

So where is their internal clock? How do the females know it is time to go back to the males? The females go back as one big group. The communication between them is silent and yet they all hear it at the same time. They move as a collective. They relieve the males who pass the new born chick off to the female who now has food for the baby stored up. It is now the males time to leave in search of food. And so the cycle continues as the chicks grow up and start the process all over again.

What is your internal clock telling you? Do you know when it is time to get up and begin your day or your life even? Many times it is our animal companions who nudge our internal clocks to get moving again. Whether it is to get oputside for a walk and get us back into nature or just sitting like the cat in meditation, our pets reflect messages back to us all the time.

So every morning I greet my furry clocks and look forward to the messages I receive from them. They welcome each new day with the excitment of new things. Isn't that a great way for us to also begin our day? Stepping into the rhythms of our animals and our planet each day reminds us of the beauty of life that surrounds all of us.

One of my clocks is letting me know it is time for a "cookie" break so I must go!

Happy Trails,
Sherry