LETTER 1: New Music Video & Nature Story

I just released a new single & music video called IN A MILLION DIFFERENT WAYS, available now to experience on YouTube. Just click the picture above to watch! If you want to know more of the story behind it, go to the YouTube video and look at the description where I shared how the song & video came to be! Thank y’all for supporting my creative journey by experiencing my art and sharing it around!

Below is the first story I will share in this weekly newsletter. This one documents an unparalleled nature experience I had with a couple friends almost exactly a year ago…I hope y’all enjoy reading it as much as I did experiencing and writing it! Click the image below the story once you finish reading to watch the corresponding video.

THE CURIOUS CREATURE

On a fresh fall night in late September of 2024, my friends and I expressed excitement over the sudden shift in seasonal weather, deciding to enjoy it by sitting in my backyard and drinking some freshly brewed tea. Hours passed as the conversation ebbed and flowed without many constraints, covering an array of interesting topics from sports medicine to nature conservation to the best pizza-serving spot in the city. As I spilled my opinion on some insignificant topic, I was abruptly interrupted by my friend’s strenuous stare, aimed at the base of the kumquat tree directly behind where I was standing. His head moved left…moved right…his eyes squinted as he moved up & down, adding as many angles as he could to aid his situational understanding. 

As my senses started tingling at the increasingly present signs of danger, I could barely begin to utter my intensive line of questioning before my friend blurted out the last 4 words I wanted to hear in this situation…”Do y’all see that?” My body didn’t move as the wildest series of possible answers ran through my head. “A snake”, I thought, “Or maybe a rabid raccoon or sizable spider sneaking up behind me.” As my mind sifted through the potential perils, my friend spoke up, adding in his assessment of his sighting, saying “maybe it’s a squirrel or courageous cat”. I garnered up the previously evasive courage inside me and turned around slowly, my eyes adjusting to the new lighting as I aligned my line of vision with that of my friends to see…nothing…no movement for my eyes to catch or even whisper of sound for my ears to hear. Then, after a couple seconds of quiet, from above the 2x4 garden bed wall popped up two little ears, then two little eyes to follow. There, gripping the 2x4, was the tiniest field mouse. We all started in wonder as this mouse perched up within 5 feet from where we were standing to get a good look at us. 

We sat down to show we weren’t a threat, and with almost instantaneous understanding, the mouse began his midnight marauder in the safety of our presence. We watched him run within a couple feet of us to the area where the bird seed spills from the feeder onto the ground, grab a footful(?), then sprint to the pile of rocks that hold up my bird bath, disappearing into one of the countless crevices. We continued our seated conversation, our eyes fixed on the rocks our meandering mouse friend was moving around under. After a minute or two of sneakily stashing his seed, his ears resurfaced as he reappeared empty handed. For the next 5 minutes, we watched this mouse sprint, jump, and hop within 3 feet of us to and from the bird seed pile to the rigid rock display, filling his hands with loose seed and stashing it away. 

After this exciting encounter with this curious creature, we concluded the mouse felt safe from other predators (such as owls, cats, foxes, etc) in our calming human presence. As we sat down and continued conversation, he felt safe enough to risk being vulnerable in the open as he took the opportunity to make a seed stash, trusting we would not harm him and our voices would ward off all other creatures. 

This was quite the special bonding-with-nature experience. If you have any similar stories, I would love to hear them - email me at [email protected]! Continue getting outside and interacting with nature, noticing the potential magical moments that make life exciting! All the best, SOLEAUX

Click to Watch Video!