Tuesday, May 19, 2015

The Power of a Simple Moment


I watched a father bluebird
feed his fledgling this morning
and I cried.
dkm






Posted by dkm at 8:29 AM

7 comments:

Jane Robertson said...

So delicate...

What triggered the tears Deb?

May 19, 2015 at 10:16 PM
dkm said...

Good question, Jane Robertson! You found me out! I had hoped to get away with just those three lines, leaving it open to a reader's interpretation---but the truth is, it was a surprising phenomenon I didn't think I could put into words---and didn't take the time to try :-). The tears, I think, came from something akin to appreciating the purity of the act---the total focus of the bluebirds on the stuff of survival---the simplicity of and the power of that kind of devotion---in contrast to the complexities of our human existence. I had been sitting at my desk, somewhat in a trance of another writing project when I was distracted by the plaintive murmurs on the gutter right outside and under my third story window. I wasn't even sure it was a bluebird at first, until the father lit on the gutter next to the fledgling, inspiring a much noisier, more demanding murmur. It was all so ethereal, I can't really describe it, but as the father scooted closer and closer to his charge,it filled my heart and brought tears to my eyes when he finally stuffed that worm into his young's beak. My goatfarming brother would say and has said, "Deb. What's the big deal? That's what birds DO." And I don't have an answer for that. He's right, of course. Maybe I'll blog about it soon :-). I do wonder if others have had similar experiences of being overcome with the beauty of a simple observation in nature. Whatever... that fledgling sat on the gutter for the longest time, and the father came back again and again to feed him. Fortunately, my iphone was with me so I got shots of the third return.

May 20, 2015 at 8:55 AM
Jane Robertson said...

I asked because I found myself constructing possibilities on your behalf and decided that wasn't right! I had wondered whether, conscious or subconsciously, you had made a link between the father bluebird and your son-in-law (this after your recent fb posts). But what you saw doesn't need any human connection. It just is, in all its beautiful simplicity. Perhaps too, the gift of being able to watch the feeding, so close. Like being granted a very special, unexpected wish...

May 20, 2015 at 10:28 AM
dkm said...

Smiling here. All I can say, Jane, is that you are uncommonly perceptive. I HAD made BOTH of those links---about universal fatherhood relative to recent fb posts and about the moment being an unexpected gift, but my response was already too long and I didn't want to bore you with attaching too much symbolism to an ordinary event that happens every day---in a too personal way that nobody but me would care about. I'm really going to have to meet you some day! :-)

May 20, 2015 at 12:58 PM
Jane Robertson said...

hehehe... (as Niki would say)

May 20, 2015 at 10:18 PM
Vernon Rempel said...

Love & care embedded in the matrix of the universe

May 23, 2015 at 5:59 AM
dkm said...

Vernon, or at least symbolic of love and care---knowing what science says about instinct for species survival---still, I like knowing that bluebirds mate for life, in the purest example of "till death do us part"---and that the fathers share in the childcare---

May 31, 2015 at 8:51 PM

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