I am up at our orange grove in Ojai

Today, my daughter Liz told me

that her outdoor cat, Mae, has a bird friend,

a scrub jay, who hangs out wherever the cat is

If the cat comes to eat

The scrub jay stands nearby patiently

then eats any remaining food the cat leaves

No apparent thought on the cat’s part

to pounce on the scrub jay

No apparent fear on the scrub jay’s part

of a natural predator

The scrub jay also often sits high in a tree

And will alert the cat if danger is nearby

When the scrub jay squawks

The cat darts off to a safer place

One might wonder what the scrub jay sees

that prompts a squawk

A distant coyote or a mountain lion

or maybe just the occasional possum?

Whatever the case

two friends, however different,

are working together

to help one another

I’d say we could all learn a lesson from

Mae and the scrub jay

They have managed to overcome

their differences in order to live

a life that is better for them both.