Gray beards see beauty in seeds. This morning I had my dog out trying her nose at tracking, retrieving from heavy brush. By the end of a half hour, she looked like a seed catalog. What we later brushed out of her black, curly coat could have planted an acre or two. And it was nothing, absolutely nothing, to the seed left behind.
Squirrels running around like crazy storing acorns understand.
A cache of seeds is as reassuring to them as a stocked freezer is to us when winter storm warnings fill the 10 o'clock news. It's all about hoarding energy this time of year. Even in this brown and brittle stage, they're sunlight under our feet, sunlight headed down into the soil to feed blind, groping roots. A brilliant seriousness charges the air. Birds understand it.