Nayeema Eusuf

But Arthur gets the last word. Two seasons into our one-sided friendship, he shocks me by putting out new growth: a pair of gray-green sapling-slender shoots swelling with red velvet buds.

Understanding runs into economics with a solid thunk. I am tired of this stupid bird that’s squatting in my workspace and harassing me. So I think, why not just outwit him?

Eventually – and I’m still working on it – I accept that Nature is just doing her thing. She is communicating to me her boundaries and keeping me at bay, protecting her blue jays and possums and raccoons.

I have often wondered if reincarnation is actually that curious mid-life phenomenon whereby a person – after decades of youthful non-conformity – overnight turns into their parent. Suddenly they are anxious and unhappy, and convinced the next generation is going to ruin.