Wednesday, April 18, 2007

feathers...

Continuing, from a brief exchange with Robyn:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all. Emily Dickinson

There was a lot of indiscriminate, adolescent wing-buzzing in the hummer nest today. They're still too tiny to fly, I say. One was barely hanging on with toenails. Surprised he didn't just launch himself into orbit.

Despite my preemptive and informative fax and email, begging them not to until all was clear, Physical Plant came to wash the window today. Granted, mom splats the plate glass with bird doo-doo, so as to obscure the view from the tables on the other side. And this is the time of year workers beautify the campus for commencement. But after they pressure-washed a nest into oblivion 3 years ago (I nearly threw up), they've received reminders & alerts from me - along with promises of keeping them informed of when they've fledged.

Employees in the area alerted them and they did a 'gentle' clean. But, what if they hadn't been caught in time? Sheesh. Pay attention. Even the smallest of all birds is supremely important.

4 comments:

Miz Minka said...

The Dickinson quote is breathtaking. That's a "keeper."

I couldn't help but think of the story about the millions of starfish washed up on the shore, and the guy walking along and picking up as many as he can and tossing them back in the sea. When asked why he bothers, there are so many it doesn't make a difference, he looks at the starfish in his hand and replies: "Makes a difference to this one," and then he throws it back in the water. Thank God there are people like you who will go through a bit of trouble to make a difference for a couple of tiny, miraculous lives!

DearestDragonfly said...

And I'm thankful for you -- a companion on that journey!!!...Even for the teeny weeny ants!

I had forgotten about the starfish story. Compelling. In the category of being very 'present' with creation... Like chewing slowly,perhaps...

Geez, I like dot dot dots

Miz Minka said...

Yes, I've wondered about my own fondness for dot dot dots... (Uh-oh). Is it because we're too lazy to finish a thought, or is it simply enjoying the "silence" and letting the reader fill in the blanks? Hmmm...

I have to learn to chew more slowly.

DearestDragonfly said...

I am chewing more slowly... still using dot dot dot...

Perhaps they (along with 'quotes') make up for the sterile aspect of the written environment, i.e., lack of voice inflection?

But I vote for the laziness and openendness thesis.