Here come the holidays! We'll soon be in the high season for gift giving. This reminds me how I used to fret and stew over presents. I'd beg for wish lists and then spend hours chasing all over town trying to come up with The Perfect Gifts. Gone are those days as I've come to a new way of thinking about how to share joy.

I now see these days as an opportune time to gift in ways that engage family and friends with nature. The gifts I most like to give ultimately benefit birds, shrubs and trees, and all the wildlife. There's such pleasure to be found in indulging a hobby, stretching knowledge, or sparking a new interest. I find myself often saying to folks who enjoy their yards, "Offer food, water, shelter, and a place to raise young, and you will be creating a wildlife sanctuary right at home."

Here is some advice if you want to give gifts with nature in mind:

Food is fundamental. All creatures that feast on seed, nuts, or berries will be thankful and return daily to show their appreciation. Check out seed blends and seeds such as safflower, thistle, black oil sunflower, and peanuts. At a nature store you can find highly designed and engineered birdfeeders for easy cleaning, large thistle bags that attract winter finches, squirrel-proof feeders, peanut feeders galore, and all kinds of suet feeders. Bird feeders can be for the ground, raised, or windows. I particularly like the idea of heated bird baths or bird bath heaters because birds need water year around for survival. When usual sources are dried up or frozen, they are dependent upon people to provide, so traditional or elegant bird baths and bird bath heaters make excellent gifts.

Nature gifts for indoors can mean books, note cards, calendars or even wildlife jewelry, musical clocks, and stuffed toys that teach bird songs. Check out the wide selection of nature jigsaw puzzles around these days. I can speak from experience that working a puzzle at a table by a window overlooking a yard where birds are flitting about is great fun. After a day of observing my yard's visitors, I light a fire and enjoy the evening's quiet, hoping finally to find that illusive puzzle piece.

With the groundswell of interest in raising chickens these days, maybe a starter chicken coop would be a hit. Or if you have friends who have everything including chickens, how about a bag of egg-a-day feed? Don't forget pets. The new item this year for dogs is antlers, providing many an evening of chewing satisfaction.

I encourage everyone to "think outside the box" in choosing gifts this year. Truly outside. What would your friends and family enjoy for the outdoors? for the backyard? for a church yard? for a building window? These are gifts that get put to use immediately and don't sit on shelves! I hope you will join me in giving gifts related to nature. You need not spend a lot to give a good deal of enjoyment. Happy Holidays!