welcome
Timing is everything.
Says the girl who was nearing the homestretch of her walk just as the baby bird fell onto the sidewalk. There was this thump, then a startled realization, then a curiosity of "what's next?" for both of us. I scooted over to the grass to see what would happen, eventually tucking down cross-legged in hopes that a Mama Bird would know I was friend not foe. Mama Cardinal cheep-cheeped, swooped, and clipped and cocked her head all about.
I wonder what the morning had been like before that moment. Did Baby Bird fall out of a nest? Did he wander too far on a limb and lose his balance? Was it time for him to learn how to fly?*
He sat there for the longest time on the sidewalk while I watched. And then with Mama's prodding and example, he started toward the safety of the tree that was housing him mere minutes before. Once he made it into the grass he dipped down into a valley of tall greens and I couldn't tell if Mama Bird had lost sight of him as she was flying from tree to tree with earnest cheeps. They were calling out to one another in a land version of the water game I'd play as a child.
The day following, our homily at mass centered on expectations. Was the job, the partnership, the marriage, the parenthood what we had hoped for, wanted, expected? And if so, or if not, how had we handled our lot and the people among us throughout? Where had we scattered our seeds? In what kind of soil were we hoping to bloom? Who or what did we seek and find to connect with, help out, or inspire us along the way?
"Marrrrrco...! Polo!"
My start's been beckoning, the inspiration's peaked and valleyed, but thankfully the encouragement's been patient in both pushing and leading me from one limb to the next.
And now I'm here. And I'm glad that you're here. And together I bet we'll find moments of beauty, happenings unexpected, and likely a good story to weave along the way.
*As I hovered over the edits and publishing of this post, my girl came around the corner with a 'surprise' for me.
"Close your eyes!" And then I opened them to see her construction paper creation.
While I was crafting words about the birds, she was bringing them to life.
Indeed, timing is everything…
—Silverstein goodness—