Birds

We were pulling into the driveway this evening after having dinner with Nik for her 30th birthday when I noticed two small boys and a young woman gazing up the oak tree in our yard by the road. I parked the car and walked down the driveway to ask what they were seeing; the young woman replied,  "That bird up there. He looks like someones pet. He just flew up there." I looked up, and there was a beautiful cockatiel looking down at us. I had a cockatiel named "Bud" once, and he loved to be talked to, so I said,"Hello. Hello. Hello," with the same high pitch voice each time to create a repetitive sound. The colorful bird bent his head back and forth listening intently. Then, he flew down to the garbage can next to me. I put out my hand, and he stepped right on to it and went immediately up my arm to my ear for my earring. I could tell the young woman and the boys wanted the bird, so I passed it gently to her to take home. She said she would put up signs in the neighborhood to see if someone owned the bird;if her mother would not let her keep it, she told me she would bring it back to me.

I did not take a picture of the bird, and the pictures of birds in this blog are not that bird. All the same, they are birds, and birds are amazing creatures. I'm not obsessive about watching birds, but I am very much aware of them in my surroundings. Today, I felt tired and a bit harried after working long hours in the yard. I walked to the back to throw away more yard trash when I spotted an osprey soaring above the field behind the house. It's effortless motion stopped me in my tracks, and I felt an instant of calm. Birds can be annoying because they do poop in places that are sometimes inconvenient like on cars, laundry or shoulders, but I can't imagine the immense void in my life if they were gone. Thank you God, for the birds.

Peace. Love, Linda