Feed the Birds

If you cannot get out into the world as much as you would like, there is a decent case for bringing a bit of it to you instead. It does not take much. A handful of seed on a windowsill will do it, or a feeder if you fancy going at it properly.

That is the suggestion for today. Put something out, and then leave it completely alone.

It takes a day or two before they trust it, which is its own small lesson in patience. Then they come, and it is genuinely brilliant. You start recognising the regulars. You develop strong and unreasonable opinions about pigeons. You find yourself checking first thing in the morning to see who has turned up.

The real value is that it gives you something to look at that is alive and busy and has absolutely nothing to do with you, your week, or anything on your mind. It is not about you in the slightest, and that is exactly why it works. Ten minutes at the window watching them get on with their business is worth considerably more than it sounds.