I sat in the garden silently for months. Nature slowly welcomed me back. A long line of inhabitants greeted me and made themselves known. Caterpillars, flies, bees, and little lives I’ve never witnessed.

As they’ve become a part of our family, and ours theirs, it has instilled a new level of understanding. Take for instance these flies i’ve met. They are luminous colors of coppers, greens, blues, and even yellows. After weeks of seeing them on the zucchini plants, I saw the most mini versions of their parents begin to appear. They were playing together on the same leaves, but reminiscent of children in a schoolyard. I looked at other leaves, and up above them was a large fly sitting and watching all of the littles. The were running and accidentally flying off the leaves and then would fall back to where they began. Each so full of apparent joy and excitement to be alive.

Each day these inhabitants share their lives with me. I’ve learned to water more carefully - to look under leaves before I harvest so I don’t take anyone away from their home - and I do my best to watch where I step.