Stories

“When we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey.”

– Wendell Berry

I got up this morning at the sound of the alarm. It was 6:00 am and I was waiting for that alert from work that said, ‘Hey Chris! Why don’t you sleep in this morning!”. There was snow on the ground and though, I didn’t think it was very serious, snow and ice can create travel complications for many people. The minutes passed by and I remained hopeful – and in bed! It wasn’t long after 6:30 and I decided I’d get up and start my day, when shortly after, the news came in: I had a reprieve until noon!

When I get up in the morning, I’m up and there’s usually no going back to sleep, so I looked outside, did a little reading & journaling, then I saw the birds outside my bay window flitter and fluttering about. I knew when my work day would start later that I’d want to go outside and explore, so I switched gears and started dressing up for the cold.

Layer on top of layer added, I jumped in my car and headed off to Boyd Pond. I pulled into the parking down by the boat ramp and no sooner than I stepped out of the car, I saw the images flowing through my mind’s eye. The golden sun shining down on the water, Canadian Geese gracefully floating across the water.

Sometimes the thing we most need to do is just to show up.

Why I Wake Early- Mary Oliver

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and crotchety–

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light–
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.

I’ve been watching these guys for the past week or so. I’ve been carrying my camera with me and after work today, I went outside and heard their call. Out came my camera, but most of them had migrated across the street. I thought that if I was going to get any images, sitting where I was wouldn’t get it done. I jumped in my car and crossed the ‘Highway of Death’, otherwise known as E. Pine Log Road. Amazingly, there was a hole in the traffic and I crossed relatively painlessly.

For about ten minutes, maybe a few more, I held my camera at the ready, seeing the birds leave the trees to swarm as they’ve done, and then to return. With 300+ photos, I’m sure I’ll find a few favorites, but this grabbed me because of the enormity of the swarm.

Simple reminders of the resilience of nature.

“I’s been livin’ a long time in yesterday, Sandy chile, an’ I knows there ain’t no room in de world fo’ nothin’ mo’n love. I know, chile! Ever’thing there is but lovin’ leaves a rust on yo’ soul. An’ to love sho ‘nough, you got to have a spot in yo’ heart fo’ ever’body – great an’ small, white an’ black, an’ them what’s good an’ them what’s evil – ‘cause love ain’t got no crowded-out places where de good ones stay an’ de bad ones can’t come in. When it gets that way, then it ain’t love.”
― Langston Hughes, Not Without Laughter