I have always, from my earliest moments, knew to stay still to watch wildlife. My parents would place me outside with a cracker, then step back inside to watch the chipmunk I had befriended come to me for his treat. As a young child, my favorite book, gifted to me after being discarded from an elementary library, was Listen, Rabbit by Aileen Fisher. The child in this book sent silent wishes to the rabbit, a practice I now realize I still do today. I was finally able to locate a replacement, this one also discarded from an elementary library. I still love it.
Deb, this doesn't surprise me at all, to learn this about you. You strike me as being attentive to all things—and to words and hearts. I was so beguiled by this bird. I cannot find any bird in any book that looks like it—young or adult, male or female. It was other worldly.
Know you lift spirits even while my grandkids had to be evacuated. They are safe and we are "waiting" to see if the Palisade fire reaches their area. The oldest boy's school was saved by Quebec pilots with planes that scoped water from the Encino reservoir and stopped the fire which was very close. They are now in San Francisco where there were earthquakes yesterday....Earth is speaking. Can we hear?
I am so sorry that your family is in the path of this terror. And then in San Fran, where my dear nephew and his fiance live. It seems to me that the only thing we should be doing right now is coming together, listening to the earth, trying to heal her. That all other rancor should be set aside on behalf of us all. I am so saddened by these days.
Stunning in its simplicity. Heart-wrenching in its truth. Grieving with you the "unanswered wish for the end of fires and catastrophic hurt and shattering hostilities." 🧡
Sue Ann: I feel so bereft, wanting, as I've written above, to feel humanity coming together right now, on behalf of the Earth that holds us. We don't have that much time. Universal kindness would make such a difference.
This is why I love reading your newsletter. When I need inspiration or strength or peace or reassurance, I open one of your emails and find something for me there. Thank you for your musings and for putting them out in the world.
Oh, Monica, thank you. Though it is true that sometimes I am despairing and not quite sure where I will find the inspiration or reassurance. And then I go very quiet, very still, until something appears.
but it is so true, isn't it? I thought of you. I wished I had your bird knowledge. this creature remains a mystery to me. I can find it nowhere, for I have looked in all kinds of bird catalogs.
one of the beauties of the not-so-new house we are in is that i can see nature all places - deer, birds, fox, etc. It's a good feeling to just observe.
I have always, from my earliest moments, knew to stay still to watch wildlife. My parents would place me outside with a cracker, then step back inside to watch the chipmunk I had befriended come to me for his treat. As a young child, my favorite book, gifted to me after being discarded from an elementary library, was Listen, Rabbit by Aileen Fisher. The child in this book sent silent wishes to the rabbit, a practice I now realize I still do today. I was finally able to locate a replacement, this one also discarded from an elementary library. I still love it.
Deb, this doesn't surprise me at all, to learn this about you. You strike me as being attentive to all things—and to words and hearts. I was so beguiled by this bird. I cannot find any bird in any book that looks like it—young or adult, male or female. It was other worldly.
Know you lift spirits even while my grandkids had to be evacuated. They are safe and we are "waiting" to see if the Palisade fire reaches their area. The oldest boy's school was saved by Quebec pilots with planes that scoped water from the Encino reservoir and stopped the fire which was very close. They are now in San Francisco where there were earthquakes yesterday....Earth is speaking. Can we hear?
I am so sorry that your family is in the path of this terror. And then in San Fran, where my dear nephew and his fiance live. It seems to me that the only thing we should be doing right now is coming together, listening to the earth, trying to heal her. That all other rancor should be set aside on behalf of us all. I am so saddened by these days.
With heart breaking fierceness...
yes
Stunning in its simplicity. Heart-wrenching in its truth. Grieving with you the "unanswered wish for the end of fires and catastrophic hurt and shattering hostilities." 🧡
Sue Ann: I feel so bereft, wanting, as I've written above, to feel humanity coming together right now, on behalf of the Earth that holds us. We don't have that much time. Universal kindness would make such a difference.
When will we wake up?
Will it be in time for our
species survival?
Oh my yes. It makes me nostalgic for a time when tragedy brought us together instead of ripping us further and further apart.
Why do we forget
that we are all close neighbors,
that we are all kin?
This was so beautiful Beth. You can't heal the world but you bring light to it and that lifts a part of it.
I so appreciate you, LN, and you saying this. I think we are feeling so — powerless — and I want to work against that, as much as I can.
I was right there with you Beth...not moving...waiting.
May the bird return to us both, Linda.
Yes!
This is why I love reading your newsletter. When I need inspiration or strength or peace or reassurance, I open one of your emails and find something for me there. Thank you for your musings and for putting them out in the world.
Oh, Monica, thank you. Though it is true that sometimes I am despairing and not quite sure where I will find the inspiration or reassurance. And then I go very quiet, very still, until something appears.
"f I stand, the bird will leave. If I rush the window open and call out a name—Bird, Bird—it will not wing itself to me." -- love it.
but it is so true, isn't it? I thought of you. I wished I had your bird knowledge. this creature remains a mystery to me. I can find it nowhere, for I have looked in all kinds of bird catalogs.
I love the contrasting bird to you culminating in who is braving and who isn’t. And yes, the distinction between looking and seeing.
one of the beauties of the not-so-new house we are in is that i can see nature all places - deer, birds, fox, etc. It's a good feeling to just observe.
An alien ally
paid a visit while she worked.
Oddly enough, it seemed.