Oh! Nesting pairs everywhere ..

As I walk around the open areas and trails, I see nesting pairs of birds everywhere.

The Canadian geese are all paired up. The female eating while the male guards. One sleeping, the other watching. The mallard duck pairs are spreading out to different areas in the swamps securing a private territory.  A pair of mourning doves resting quietly at the foot of a dense shrub. The slender and delicate bird perfectly camouflaged with the brown branches. When I see the red cardinal in the woods,  I know that its dull colored partner is somewhere close hidden in the thickset.

It is as if I am witnessing Spring for the first time in my life .. 

The Coo of the Mourning Dove

Every morning as I head out from home to work, I hear this very haunting coo of a particular bird. A far away "woo-OO-oo-oo-oo" .. a pause and then again "woo-OO-oo-oo-oo". I wondered what mysterious bird must have such a distinctive coo.

I wanted to find out on the web..but what would I search for? The only option was to ask a birder in the region. I almost gave up hope of finding out until I chanced upon a very slender, greyish brown bird that looked like pigeon. I looked it up and found out that it was the Mourning Dove.

Imagine my surprise when I found that this was it!! The Mourning dove's plaintive coo is what gave this bird its name. "woo-OO-oo-oo-oo"  ... "woo-OO-oo-oo-oo" ..

Mother's tea

My mother is visiting for a few months. The best thing about having mom at home is the tea she makes for me. Every morning my sweet mother will ask me "milk or chai". Mostly my answer is "chai". I sit cross-legged on the sofa sipping hot tea and looking out of the window. A soft start to a brand new day ..

Manicured Park Or Wilderness

I used to jog in a large well manicured park a stone's throw from my house. The grass was neatly trimmed. Precisely spaced apple trees lined the pathway. There was a water fountain, a rose garden, an artificial waterfall, a pond, a gazebo. It was a dream park.

Occasionally, I would jog in the nature trail a little further away. Slowly it dawned to me that the nature trail had such a different quality to it. What was it about the nature trail? Was it the sound of the water in the meandering stream? Was it the rustling of the leaves on the mature trees?

The abundance of life in the wilderness struck me! The sound of the crickets, snails everywhere, fungi, red and black caterpillars crawling slowly, dragonflies, butterflies and the bees, the rabbits safe behind the dense growth of trees, the squirrels far up on the trees, birds of all kinds, small slithery snakes, and raccoons.

I realized that a park simply lacks the community required to sustain life. The wilderness provides food and a safe, sheltered environment for just about every form of life. A landscaped park is a sub-standard version of the wilderness. Needless to say, I haven't felt the urge to visit the park very often.

It reminded me of what Thoreau said "In wildness is the preservation of the world."

Dadirri : Deep Listening

I recently read about "Dadirri". It has always been a big part in the lives of the Aboriginal people of Australia. According to  Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann, Aboriginal writer

“Dadirri is inner, deep listening and quiet, still awareness. Dadirri recognises the deep spring that is inside us. We call on it and it calls to us.

When I experience dadirri, I am made whole again. I can sit on the riverbank or walk through the trees; even if someone close to me has passed away, I can find my peace in this silent awareness. There is no need of words. A big part of dadirri is listening.”

“In our Aboriginal way, we learnt to listen from our earliest days. We could not live good and useful lives unless we listened. This was the normal way for us to learn - not by asking questions. We learnt by watching and listening, waiting and then acting.”

“My people are not threatened by silence. They are completely at home in it. They have lived for thousands of years with Nature’s quietness. My people today, recognize and experience this quietness, the great Life-Giving Spirit, the Father of us all.”

Grateful for an ordinary day

There was a time in my life when I yearned for an ordinary day. My two year old daughter was very sick for a period of six months. She had surgery a few days before my son was born. I was torn between caring for a sick child and a new born.

All that I wished for then was an ordinary day where the children are healthy and happily playing around. A day where we go about doing our normal chores, enjoy simple home cooked food, laugh, talk and cuddle up on the sofa.

I live my life with the backdrop of this knowledge. I am grateful for every single day!
I know how perfect a "normal" day is. How beautiful "ordinary" things are.

A lone "Red Cardinal"

I took a different path today and walked into the nature trail despite all the snow. The sun was shining brightly. At a fork in the trail, I decided to walk towards a dense forest of pines.

In the thickset of tall bushes along the stream, I could hear different bird songs. I stood still on the bridge when lo and behold, I spot a lone red cardinal on a leafless tree. The red color standing out in the background of white and gray. The shy bird stayed there just for a few seconds before disappearing.

(Picture courtesy: http://pinterest.com/shjoll /red-cardinal/)                         

 
Small black, white and grey birds flitted about among the branches. I found out that the tiny yet plump birds are the Black-capped Chickadee.  

 

  (Picture courtesy :montananaturalist.blogspot.com)