Well Bottom Blues

I have loved what is beyond my reach so it’s no surprise I spend a lot of time alone with the water birds in the forest arboretum. I didn’t realize learning to appreciate beauty in this way was an emotional apprenticeship. The egrets are fly-away skittish but others–anhinga, green heron–will linger nearby comfortably in my quiet presence. Sometimes they vocalize like crazy, sharing all their secret bird business. I have to remember how wonderful it is to be accepted by such wild, complex and beautiful things.

I was worried after the wind storm when they disappeared for a while. They withdrew into a private place of quiet, numbed by all the turmoil. I had to wait for them to return in their own time, when they felt comfortable and safe again in their world. I can’t dictate which way they fly and where they land. I can only appreciate what is given and treasure those moments when they show me their beautiful feathers, when anhinga spreads their drying heraldic wings.