Sometimes the sweetest love stories are the ones nobody could have planned. Meet Chimuela and Trucu Trucu. Chimuela is a cat. Trucu Trucu is a pigeon. And somewhere along the way, these two decided that little difference didn't matter very much. Their unlikely friendship was captured by Rubén Grisales in Puerto Carreño, Colombia, and thankfully, he kept filming as their relationship blossomed. Before Chimuela's kittens were even born, Trucu Trucu began bringing her twigs and other nesting material, carefully placing them around her and building what certainly appeared to be a nest for his feline friend. Then Chimuela gave birth to four tiny kittens, and Trucu Trucu kept right on building. But he didn't just deliver the nesting material and move along. He stayed. As the kittens grew, Rubén continued documenting this beautiful little blended family. The kittens became comfortable with their feathered family member, and Chimuela seemed perfectly content to have Trucu Trucu sharing their space. Having worked in wildlife rehabilitation, I've seen some pretty unlikely friendships between different species. When we didn't have two babies of the same species at the beginning of a season, sometimes babies were raised alongside another species so they wouldn't have to be alone. Animals have taught me over and over again that love doesn't always need the boundaries we humans put around it. Yes, they have survival instincts. They protect themselves and their babies. They experience fear and pain. But they are also capable of trust, connection, tenderness and some of the most beautiful examples of unconditional love I've ever witnessed. I've said it a million times, and I'll probably say it a million more: We could learn a thing or twelve about unconditional love from animals and Chimuela and Trucu Trucu are a pretty beautiful example. You can watch more of their story unfold and see the kittens growing up with Trucu Trucu here.

Hi Everyone About 23 years ago, I retired, due to sickness. I had been ill most of my life, and repeatedly misdiagnosed, so despite seeing specialist after specialist, I kind of wore down like the Duracell Bunny, and stopped, except there were no new batteries for me. I then had to fight my employer for sick pay, because they decided immediately to not pay me any, to not honour my work related health insurance, and make my life as difficult as possible, despite the fact I'd worked incredibly hard for years. Eventually, after a great deal of stress, I won. Unfortunately, as it turned out, I made the mistake of telling my already very narcissistic and controlling "Mother" about this. True to form, instead of being pleased for me, like a normal person, she became insanely jealous, inexplicably decided my health insurance payments should be hers, and began threatening me. This was particularly disappointing as six months before retiring I'd actually taken out thousands on my mortgage to pay off her debts, when she had come to me telling me no one would lend her any money and she would lose her house otherwise. She had then proceeded to also not pay any of the agreed monthly payments back. At this point I had still not been diagnosed correctly, so I did not know that I actually had Adrenal Disease, amongst other things, so was literally physically unable to deal with stress. I had had no balance all of my life, I passed out and would be debilitated with exhaustion for weeks when faced with what other people treated as minor illnesses, and compounding stress factors would take me out for months and months at a time. I did not know this, but in hindsight, I have a feeling my coercively controlling "Mother" had noticed the effect stress had on me and used it as a means to control me, knowing full well I would just go along with things to avoid the stress she would cause otherwise. One day around this time I walked into my "Mother"s house to get something and opened a kitchen cupboard door. Inside I found a pile of letters approximately 2 foot high, all opened, and all addressed to me, that I had never seen. I begun opening them to find birthday cards, Xmas cards, letters from my grandparents, invitations to family gatherings and all kinds of personal notes that people had clearly given to her, trusting her to pass on to me, for decades. But she was so insanely jealous of anyone giving me any attention that should be hers, she took them, opened them, and kept them for herself instead. She had spent years telling me, when I'd asked, why my brother would get cards and invites etc, and I wouldn't, that "there must be must be something wrong with me", and "no one would ever like me", and doing everything she could to destroy my confidence and self esteem, when simultaneously, they were actually treating me no differently to my brother, and it was her all along. I'd like to be able to say that I felt absolute betrayal in that moment, and that my entire life was a lie, but it's hard to feel betrayal when I'd always known there was something very wrong with her, even if I didn't know exactly what was happening.

How fun is it to run across one of nature’s wonders and get to do a little research and learning? My friend came across this little beauty last night hanging out on his garbage can lid. When he first saw this critter, they had two little “horns” sticking out, but quickly retracted them. My brave friend even tried the highly scientific method of poking them with his finger between the eyespots to see if he could get the horns to come back out. He failed. And knowing what we know now, that may have been a good thing because it could have caused a bit of a stink for him. 😂 This little dude or dudette is a Western Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar. Those big yellow and black “eyes” are called eyespots, part of what researchers describe as snake mimicry. The caterpillar can also pull its actual head in and swell the front of its body, making that fake snake face even more convincing to a potential predator. And those retractable horns? They're called an osmeterium, a forked defensive organ found in swallowtail caterpillars. When they feel threatened, they can pop it out and release a strong odor designed to make a predator reconsider its dinner plans. And then there is my favorite part. That funny pinkish-red thing that looks like this caterpillar is sticking its tongue out at the camera? That's actually the head and mouth sitting just below that big fake snake face. Caterpillars don't have a tongue like ours, despite what this photo would have you believe. I had ChatGPT break the picture down for me because my brain simply could NOT stop seeing yellow lips and a tongue sticking out. 😂 I'll include that graphic too for your learning enjoyment. And because this caterpillar is already big and mature, finding it wandering somewhere like a garbage can instead of on a host tree or shrub such as willow, cottonwood, aspen, alder, sycamore, cherry, or ash may mean it was searching for a protected place to form its chrysalis. One unexpected visitor on a garbage can turned into a whole lesson about mimicry, defense, metamorphosis and just how incredibly creative nature can be. 🐛💚🦋

I think we all need a little fun right now. Life keeps lifeing, and sometimes it's not always what we want. This can really jack with our emotions. Burnout and exhaustion are real, and they can ruin your future plans if you don't pull yourself through. So let's play together. In the comments, write three of your favorite songs and the artist. The title MUST BE EXACT. That's it for now. 😏 You'll know more soon. Okay, write your three and let's get the fun rolling!

I’m attaching the latest video update directly from the Ojai Raptor Center so you can hear the news from the team caring for Jackie. Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers, and send some love to Shadow, Luna, and Sandy. Sending my deepest appreciation and prayers to the extraordinary veterinary and rehabilitation staff doing everything they can to help Jackie heal and bring her home to her family. ❤️🦅 https://youtu.be/RnMl51tD2kk