A new episode of Threshold is out today, Behold, the Wonderchicken. In it, I reveal something that will surprise no one and yet feels a bit vulnerable to share: I am in love with birds. Sometimes specific birds, but really…all of them. I’m not any sort expert, nor have I put much effort into becoming great at identification. I just love these dinosaurs living among us, and this episode felt like the right time to let loose and show it.
Of course I know I’m not alone in this. Just yesterday I came across two lovely essays by other bird-loving folk: I Brake for Robins by Margaret Renkl and “Love letter to a thrasher” by Laura Paskus (thanks to Chris La Tray for flagging this one). I wasn’t looking for birdy stuff, these pieces just floated into my field of view. It happens a lot. In every culture and time, people have worshipped and mythologized birds, painted and drawn and sculpted them, written stories about them, made music inspired by and even with them.
All of this was a bit daunting to me as I worked on this episode, but I’m happy with how it turned out. It’s a three-parter; there’s an adventure in the Montana woods with bird communication expert Erick Greene, a conversation with Darius McCain, a young man I met at the RYSE Center1 in Richmond, California, and then my personal ode to the winged ones. You can listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Since I’m going all-in on the bird love, I might as well do something else that’s a bit hard for me: share a poem I wrote a few weeks ago. I was working on this episode, when I happened to look out the window and see three sets of birds, offering three different models of how to handle a stormy day. I quickly jotted down some impressions that became this….
Couples Counseling
in the distance where snow spits angrily out of grey clouds and wind whips up the waves two swans rock together on the sea unflappable
close to shore where democracy and economy and decency are careening downward two ducks plummet together and then stick the landing
on the lawn where grass is greening as frost is biting two crows decide together to open and let the unsettled sky lift them
Thank you for reading and listening. I’d love to hear about your own birdlove, or whatever bird feelings you may have, if you care to share.
I want to give the last word to the creatures themselves. Here’s a Song Thrush I met recently next to the Gulf of Bothnia here in northern Sweden:
The RYSE Center is a beautiful and valuable youth-led community center in Richmond, California. Check it out and consider sending them a donation.
Amy, I am just starting to read the book, What the Robin Knows, by Jon Young. Do you know it? If not, I think you’ll enjoy it! Cheers!