Bird Blessings


I have had a life-long love affair with birds. I've been intrigued with birds since I was a child and even earned a Master's degree in Birds. (Actually, that's not exactly true...I did do my thesis on birds, "The Geographic Ecology of Acorn Woodpeckers", but my degree is really an interdisciplinary degree in Biology, Ecology, and Statistics.)

Birds really are quite magical, aren't they? I recently traveled to Minnesota and Georgia and on both trips, I was enchanted when I heard bird songs I had not heard in a long time.

One morning, as I stood out on the deck of my friends' home in Minnesota, I heard a familiar chant: "Poor Tom Peabody Peabody Peabody". And instantly, I knew who was hidden in the brush: a white throated sparrow. And then one night in Georgia, I stepped outside and heard the clean call of a Whip-poor-Will from the nearby woods.

Both experiences some how transported me to a mystical place between worlds...the natural world, the physical world and my inner and outer world. It was a rich, wonderfully alive space.

(The painting above is one of the Mockingbirds that call my yard home and argue with the cat about who owns this tree.)

Comments

Jan said…
I love your paintings.
Thanks.

Since you're such an avid reader, I have a book for you: "Fredrick" by Leo Lionni. Maybe you know it already...it's a children's book. I read it every so often to remind me of why I do what I do.
Jan said…
I remember reading "Frederick" to the classes I taught. I originally read it to the first graders I student taught in Seattle many eons ago!! Thanks for reminding me, Kathy.

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