Reflections: A Budding Love Affair with the Bird Cousins

A Budding Love Affair with the Bird Cousins

  

Susan Ragsdale


If we took the time to look, what would we

see?

 

The bluebirds speed back and forth between

the white and plain wooden boxes. They check

and assess each one as carefully as any

human, determining which birdhouse they will

call home.

 
 
 

 

A movement out of the corner of my eye.

Ah! The owl family. Papa stands guard

watching one direction. Baby leans in to

snuggle Mama Owl’s cheek. Mama watches

me—comfortable in her own power to

simultaneously be both guardian and nurturer.

 
 

Rounding the corner, drawn by a racket, my

eyes quickly take in the battle already

underway. A Red-tailed Hawk is schooling a

Cooper’s Hawk. Locked combat plays out at

the edge of my yard. In a blink, they split

apart, take to the air, and in mere moments

are gone.

 

If we pause to listen, what will we hear?


 
 

 The trill of the Carolina wren loudly announces

that the day may now commence.


I am here.

 The cry of the hawk draws my eyes upward

to spot him as he lifts upward from my roof’s

peak.


Here I go.

 The chirp of the chickadee softly floats

on the air as she scampers amid the branches of

the dogwood.


Spot me if you can!

 


But there! There it is. A moment I cherish

each day and of which I never tire. MY song

bird takes center stage. This soloist is

unparalleled.

 The white-throated sparrow begins her aria.

She scales up and down her impressive range

stilling my movements and capturing my heart.

 

Her beautiful song unfolds. A short song this

time.


Be. Sing. Love. Live.

The adage, then, once again holds out Truth.

With eyes to see and ears to hear, our hearts—

ever so slowly—begin to understand.



The power of moments. The gifts of stillness.

The peace of now. The joy of being. Fullness.

I attend.

 

 
A mighty message delivered by feathered

messengers,

straight from the lips of God and Mother.


Take heed, all who will linger to see and pause

to listen.

 

 

 

 

 © 2022 by Susan Ragsdale