Behold the Birds...



 

On Monday, a balmy January day, with lots of sunshine and

temperatures in the low 60s, I took advantage of what was

promising to be our last comfortable day for some time to

do a bit of yardwork. One important task was to refill all the

bird feeders, in anticipation of the cold which was to come

(and which is now firmly here). I confess that I had been

terribly remiss in caring for my fine feathered friends this

winter and so their visitations had been few and far between.

Imagine my delight today to see all 6 feeders crowded with

birds of many sorts...beautiful and unique and a delight to

watch.

 

My favorites, I must admit, are the cardinals, and there were

two pairs here today, the faithful males keeping watch as

their mates helped themselves to the nuts and grains in the

block feeders, which seem to be their favorites. And I  had to

laugh at a large bully of a bluejay who, for a time, managed to

chase away some of the smaller birds until they had enough

of his strong-arm tactics (can you strong-arm if you have no

arms? Hm-m-m.) and united in retaliation, at which time he

beat a hasty retreat.

 

But the visitors who really delighted me were the wood-

peckers...two varieties today, the downy and the one

whose name I always forget...not redheaded- though he

certainly has a red cap...not pilated, as his cap is not

peaked but rounded. But he was large and beautiful and

I reveled in the watching...content to set my life aside for a

little while to gaze at these wonderfully amazing creatures.

 

My last post, yesterday, was filled with grief and anger and

pathos, with questions and doubts, but today, I have been

reminded that there is indeed a world beyond my own concerns...

a world of beauty and wonder and hope...a world filled with

signs of the Divine. And for that, I breathe a sigh of thanks

and praise. I will not stop caring or wondering or even

agonizing over this world of humanity of which I am a part,

but praise God from whom all blessings flow...with a special

thanks for the birds and the blessing they have bestowed on

this wayfaring, wandering, questing traveler.



 

 

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