Every mid-November I drive by Medicine Lake regularly waiting to see the
Trumpeter Swans on the Lake
Medicine Lake has been one of the stops on their migration south for the past few years. And mid to late November is the time I usually see these magnificent birds on the lake.
Yesterday as I was taking the long way home from buying groceries at the Food Coop to drive by Medicine Lake, there they were! A mix of adults and signets along with mallards and hooded mergansers dabbled and swam. I hurried home, put the groceries away, and grabbed my camera to head back to the lake.
As I walked on the path by the lake one swan or another would honk loudly. Then a duck would quack. And then another swan would honk. It wasn’t just the sight of the swans but the sounds they made, the feel of the cold air on my face and hands, and the joy of being so close to the wild birds that created an experience of wonder. I felt total immersion in the moment. Such a joyful way to spend part of my day!
I seek out moments like this in life, noticing when something makes me feel more alive and connected with life. For reasons I don’t fully understand, being near big birds like trumpeter swans or sandhill cranes always makes me feel as if giggles are fizzing through my body like bubbles in champagne.
What makes you feel like that?
Whistling Swans
Do you bow your head when you pray or do you look
up into that blue space?
Take your choice, prayers fly from all directions.
And don’t worry about what language you use,
God no doubt understands them all.
Even when the swans are flying north and making
such a ruckus of noise, God is surely listening
and understanding.
Rumi said, There is no proof of the soul.
But isn’t the return of spring and how it
springs up in our hearts a pretty good hint?
Yes, I know, God’s silence never breaks, but is
that really a problem?
There are thousands of voices, after all.
And furthermore, don’t you imagine (I just suggest it)
that the swans know as much as we do about
the whole business?
So listen to them and watch them, singing as they fly.
Take from it what you can.— Mary Oliver
A jogger passing by saw me with my long lens on my camera and said, “Trumpeters? Magnificent birds!” and I answered, “Yes, they are!” with my whole heart.
So today I leave you with photographs of the birds that I love on the lake near our home.
And I ask you, what makes you feel more alive and connected with life? Do you carve out time for those experiences? Choose joy whenever you can my friends, whenever you can.
May you walk in beauty.
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