Blue Jay Summer

On my walks this summer I’ve found three blue jay feathers on various paths I’ve walked on. And I’ve seen more blue jays in our backyard than ever before. They sail across from tree to tree, bright blue beacons in the air, tree branches, and on the ground. So I’ve taken to calling this my

Blue Jay Summer.

I feel connected to the birds that spend time in our yard and at my bird feeders. And I love the bright colors of their plumage. Speaking of birds, as I sit here in my office I just saw a downy woodpecker grab a peanut from one of my bird feeders. Its bright red spot on the back of its head and black and white  wing feathers bring me a smile.

I found a poem by my favorite poet that mentions blue jays and thought that I would share it with you here today.

Black Oaks

Okay, not one can write a symphony, or a dictionary,

or even a letter to an old friend, full of remembrance
and comfort.

Not one can manage a single sound though the blue jays
carp and whistle all day in the branches, without
the push of the wind.

But to tell the truth after a while I’m pale with longing
for their thick bodies ruckled with lichen

and you can’t keep me from the woods, from the tonnage

of their shoulders, and their shining green hair.

Today is a day like any other: twenty-four hours, a
little sunshine, a little rain.

Listen, says ambition, nervously shifting her weight from
one boot to another — why don’t you get going?

For there I am, in the mossy shadows, under the trees.

And to tell the truth I don’t want to let go of the wrists
of idleness, I don’t want to sell my life for money,

I don’t even want to come in out of the rain.

– Mary Oliver

Have a beautiful weekend and enjoy the cooler weather here in Minnesota today.

May you walk in beauty.