I will stop my activities to watch a starling take a long luxurious bath. My heart performs gymnastics when I hear a cardinal’s “what-cheer-cheer-cheer.” Did you know that Robins sing intricate symphonies and Goldfinches are squeaky? And what can you say about the twittering gossip of a bush filled with sparrows? They don’t listen to one another but all chirp simultaneously, producing a cacophony that still pleases. The songs at dawn and dusk are even more poignant. Are my companions singing differently at the start and end of the day? Or am I different?
Scientists have proven that nature is healing, but perhaps it takes a poet to discern the many blessings hidden in an ordinary summer day. Is it the animals and their sounds, the movement of the wind, or simply being under the dome of heaven that moves and restores me?
It isn’t practical to avoid the inside world forever. I force myself indoors: to clean a home that’s been neglected, or to escape ravenous bugs. But no matter how comfortable we’ve made our abode, the world outside always feels more vital and real. I’m grateful for every moment I have to commune with wind and sky and birds. I’m especially beholden to the birds, my lovely companions, who sing to me hour after hour.
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