Uphill idealist

​ Recently, I had an unusual meeting with a bird – inside my car. I opened my car door and something brushed against my leg. I cautiously turned to look and found a robin, blinking back at me. On being noticed, the robin hopped into the passenger seat of my car and peacefully settled on the front dash. She showed no sign of fear. She curiously and calmly looked for her exit to head back into the open sky. I opened the car door and  she hop, hop, hopped - out of my car and into the sunny day. As she flew away I wondered if this feathered friend had a message for me and googled the meaning of, “meeting a robin close up and personal”. I learned that in some Indigenous traditions, robins are understood as messengers of Peace. This understanding of Robins as messengers of peace, is one that still resonates with me. In the middle of a busy day of errands, worries and many expectations - I needed a surprise delivery of PEACE. If you were to encounter a robin of peace today, how would you ...

Image from gschniderphoto.com There is a bird on my street that sings a song every morning that consists of two short notes tweet-tweet and one long high tweet. I hear her singing every day as I walk or jog with my dog. I've even taken to tweeting back to her every now and then. This morning all was still and she did not sing. I missed her song. I missed our conversation - simple as it is. I missed a sparrow. Sometimes we think our 'song' is to normal, simple and predictable to be sung. Sometimes we stop singing. The silence of my bird friend reminded me to keep on singing and to listen to the songs of those around me. We will miss the music a great deal if we all stop singing our songs. So for today, I stood in for my friend the sparrow and sang out a few calls for her. I hope I hear her again very soon.

Image from Better Photo . Red bird, red bird what is that song? You sing it every morning, every day and every dawn. Red bird, red bird how do you know? The melody that you sing, how it moves me so. Red bird, red bird, will you teach me? To hold that tune close when my heart feels bleak. Red bird, red bird, what did you say? Sing it high or sing it low, but sing it all the way. T.L. Eastman 09'

Sitting suspended by telephone wire, totally unaware of the conversation and communication going on beneath it. Huddling into itself in the cold of the day, it's head almost disappears into it's body like an ostrich burying it's head in the sand. Seemingly unaware of the pigeons on the wire with him, he happily huddles into the gray feathers of himself. At a moments notice, he could take flight and head to a warmer town with more sun and less sub-zero winds, but he stays - content where he is. This bird sits content in mid winter on a wire, while I daydream of places filled with sunshine and warmth. Yet, I'm not the one with the wings, am I? Does he know what opportunity he has, then again do I? If I had wings like him, I'd hope I'd fly!