11 years ago I did not
garden
work with stained glass
attend church
listen to jazz
do a very good job at feeling emotions
and I was seen as being terse and stoic by most folk.
But I did love birds, and any bird that still blesses me with its presence, gets my attention. I rarely go out birding anymore..... why? I would guess that gardening satisfies my desire to be outside.
It was nearly 11 years ago that I walked into work to find out I had been laid off. Not being one with God at that time, I turned to birds to get through the shock, unemployment, a long-term sub job(ughhhh), and the job search.
We were living in the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania where open space abounds; and that spring I went to several favorite spots over and over again. There is something about becoming familiar with a wild place and I have done this everywhere I have lived. Spots along a trail become good places to see particular birds, and even after ten years away from those places, they would still feel like home. In the midst of being unemployed I wrote 60 pages about bird experiences (I just looked and said, WOW). Here is one memory from our time in the midwest.
In Illinois I often went birdwatching before work with the goal of seeing 100 species by the end of the school year. Happy to have achieved my goal at Busey Woods, I went to work where I found a note to call home. Mosaic woman told me my grandmother had died. On the plane home, I read a quote by Emily Dickinson who described loved ones coming back to visit us in the form of birds.
What was that 100th bird that came to me that morning? Who am I to argue with Emily D?
my life unfolds, I am curious what dry places will come alive in the next 11 years. What birds will show themselves to me?
Yes, Gannet Girl.... I love birds.
peace hope and joy... and may a woodpecker laugh at all of you today.
OH!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou can find some of mine under the topic "birds" on my blog.
On loved ones (in this case a kitty)and bird messnegers:
http://searchthesea.blogspot.com/2006/09/apollo-1999-2006.html
I am going to take a study break late tonight and write a bird entry.
Such sustenance!
gannet girl-- I look forward to the fruits of your study break.
ReplyDeleteFind myself two posts behid with you this morning. I enjoy getting to know my grandkids "up close", but nearly have to make an appointment for this computer. As far as birds, I don't know why I have never taken up the "sport". Probably because my mind would wander off down some "spiritual?" path, as usual, and a bald eagle could perch on my shoulder without me even noticing the event. I was an avid rabbit hunter during my youth and upon my return home from the Navy. One day it dawned on me that killing rabbits had nothing to do with what attracted me to the diversion. Who needed a shotgun to simply walk in the woods and think?..........
ReplyDeleteJim-- all this talk about birds and woods will get me outdoors yet, well off sidewalks and into woods.
ReplyDelete