The top photo on today’s blog is of a juvenile American robin. Adults have a uniform dull red/brown breast. Juveniles, as you can see, are speckled and so lovely. There are hundreds of robins in our neighborhood. Dozens come to our back yard to eat the army worms and other gruesome tidbits lying just below the soil. But I can honestly say I never noticed the young robins until this year, even with my habit of sitting at the kitchen counter, looking at the birds. I said to my friend Beth, “I wonder what else I’m missing, right in front of my eyes?”
Mary Oliver, my favorite poet, has a lot to say about paying attention:
“Attention is the beginning of devotion.”
“Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”
I spent the entire morning in nature today. I drove down to see the fledgling great blue herons – the chattering of all the fledglings was so loud! Then I drove to a trail that traverses some wetlands (with boardwalks). I was amazed to see all the water lilies that had grown over most of the water since I had been there last. I saw a bird I had never seen before; it was quite small, with a white neck and breast and an iridescent blue head and back/wings. I learned later it was a tree swallow, apparently quite common in Ohio.
I hope the young robin and the tree swallow are signs that I am learning to pay better attention.
Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Michelle xoxo