blackbird fly....

i like birds. i like hearing their songs, i like watching them feed, i like observing them raise their babies. i could easily become the crazy lady in the park feeding bread crumbs to pigeons, except that i am not particularly fond of pigeons.  here in el paso, the birds who gather in my garden are the run of the mill sort...mourning doves. sparrows. finches. grackles. an occasional crow. a  glimpse of a shimmery hummingbird. my new friend, mr. robin. no brilliant plumage or rare species in my yard. which is fine by me.

birds remind me of people i love. megan is partial to ravens. i saw one up close and personal with her and dominic in anchorage...at a wildlife seminar. she also likes owls which remind me of my mom, who used to collect all things owl. neal loves wild turkeys. specifically, he loves to hunt wild turkeys but i see a wild turkey and i think of my son.  my sister, dee, likes crows. my sister, cheryl, loved cardinals.  my sister, pam, once pointed out a cardinal's cry as we walked in bellows falls. i was impressed. i can only identify the cawing of a crow.  my niece, sam, once tried to rescue a titmouse from a cat attack. it only lived for a day or two. my dad loves the sound of geese honking as they head south for the winter. years ago he fell off the roof trying to rescue a canadian goose. and i can never see a trio of hawks in the sky without thinking of my friend, margaret. i  remember riding horses together in austin out by the lake....and hawks circling on the breeze. when i lived in new mexico, i saw my first magpies...crows in tuxedos...and they remind me of my friend, cerina. and i laugh because magpies and prarie dogs drove her nuts.

and now i have a little male robin that shows up unexpectedly when i am working in my garden. he is a fearless little bird and he hops very close to me. i think about reincarnation whenever i see him because i can't shake the feeling that we have met, as crazy as that sounds. i actually asked him the other morning: do i know you?  he just looked at me, quizzically, and flew off. hopefully my neighbours didn't hear me....i don't want to be known as that crazy old lady that talks to birds...