On this snowy Christmas Eve, this article brings a touch of summer, hope for a new year full of good things. May it inspire us to be thoughtful stewards of this wonderful world. I am cheered to see goldfinches enjoying coreopsis seeds: elated to find a young garter snake early this year, still in his cold sleep. Hummingbird amazes and delights: tiny aeronaut zooms in, hovers over pea blossoms, sometimes trellis-perches. One bright summer day, watering pots, my ears thrummed: suddenly a hummingbird was with me, a jewel coruscating in and out of the spray. Several years ago my daughter and I witnessed a hawk moth sipping aster nectar: to this day she speaks of the shared moment with awe, the sight of a creature entirely new to her. (Me, too!) This fall I found a praying mantis egg case attached to autumn clematis, perhaps laid there by one of the myriad tiny babies that showered out of its vines this spring. Am encouraging milkweed plants to grow and flower: stripey caterpillars show monarch butterflies have discovered these efforts. This year, I will count and try to identify the many spp of bee, wasp, beetle, and fly that swarm stonecrop blossoms on sunny afternoons. One day this fall I was astonished to look out into my back yard and behold a Cooper's hawk enthroned in the birdbath! Take the time to look: so much to see. Take the time to help fellow creatures and plants, and the world will be better for it. So will you. Time spent in a garden is never wasted. Happy Christmas and New Year to you all! Wild ways: how readers have been helping wildlife in their gardens
