A Reminder

Walking by a window and catching a glimpse of bright red, especially in the winter when color is sparse, never fails to get my full on attention.  It happened again yesterday afternoon.  

There is a tree just outside our bedroom window that produces the most beautiful pink blooms in the spring, just before its leaves turn green for the summer months and now that the leaves have finally all fallen, it stands stark.  But there is something about that tree that draws a single redbird to sit on its branches and watch my window.  

This is not the first time it's happened over the two and a half years we've lived in this house now. In fact it has happened on many different occasions.  But it can't possibly still be the same bird after all this time, can it?  

This time I was outside looking for Brisco Darling who will sit for hours underneath the Holly Tree outside that same window, once it gets berries on it, because critters (Did somebody say SQUIRREL?!) love to feast on the berries and Mr. Darling is a mighty hunter.  At least in his own mind.  

I spotted him there under the tree and was turning to come back in when the redbird showed up.  I was surprised at how close he allowed me to get without being frightened away and something inside wouldn't permit me to go back into the house until he'd left. I watched him fly into the woods, smiled, and walked back toward the door.  

A little while later, as I was walking past the bedroom window, there he was again.  So I grabbed the camera and tried my hardest to do him justice through the lens and the window.

He stayed for such a long time that I had to wonder, as I always do when I see one, if he was here just for me. Presumptuous? Maybe.  But I am a strong believer that God talks to us, comforts us, through nature, if we are only open and willing to see it.  

As I was conducting my photo shoot through the windows, Dracen walked in and wanted to know why exactly I was taking "thousands" of pictures of a bird.  My reply was simply, "I like redbirds. They make me happy." 

Then  I recalled to myself these words from the poem I wrote about the flock of redbirds that graced my front yard all at once all those years ago.  Hard to believe it has been nearly nine years...  

They kept coming to me that year whenever I needed a lift
Now every time I see one, I remember that special gift...

And then just as I do each time I receive such a gift, I thanked God for His thoughtfulness for not only sending me such a beautiful reminder of His love and gracefulness but, most of all, for allowing me to truly see it...

Still...after all this time. 

Nature is the art of God.  ~Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, 1635