ROBINS IN THE CHERRY LAUREL TREE

Near the end of our walk the other day we were blessed to see hundreds of robins enjoying breakfast in a cherry laurel tree. In Florida this time of year the fruit of the Carolina Cherry Laurel turns black and shiny and sweet…. sending a message to all the robins that…it is time to eat. It’s no coincidence…or so from the cherry laurel we’ve been told… that their fruit ripens at the same time the robins are in Florida escaping the winter cold. I imagine robins getting together before the winter snows they flee.. telling each other to have a safe trip… and we’ll meet up down in Florida…at the cherry laurel tree. And that is were we saw them yesterday… jumping from branch to branch…chirping…as happy as can be… sharing stories of their adventures while feasting on the fruit of the cherry laurel tree. As more robins flew into her branches…then more and more and more the Carolina Cherry Laurel smiled at us saying, “This is what I was created for.” “For this is the way of nature.” She told us. “We work together…all these robins and me… They eat my fruit then fly off and spread my seeds creating more cherry laurel trees.” “And with more cherry laurel trees, “ she continued…”The circle is complete… because then there are more cherries for more robins to come and eat.” We stood there mesmerized…watching for a while…unable to say a word…. observing the symbiosis of nature at work…between fruit and tree and bird. And, again, we thought how nature is trying to teach us… the way our world is meant to be… and we walked away hoping we could all be a little more… like the robins and the cherry laurel tree.