This is Why

10/16/2022

“This is why", she thought to herself, breathing in the closeness. "This is why I have been longing to sit on the ground." Listening to his tiny squeaks, noticing the faint remains of his baby stripes. Watching as he dove and rose and dove again without moving further away. He jumped towards her as if something had goosed him from beneath the water and she thought he would take off - but he didn't leave.

He puffed himself up and shook the water off and she felt tiny water droplets hit her hands. He moved closer. He was maybe ten feet away now. Surely he knew she was there. She was still but she was breathing and moving enough to move the camera. He dove and came up closer still. She watched as the water gently bobbed him up and down. She saw the red of his eyeball and the reflection of the sunrise on his bill.

The pied-billed grebe had swum into the cove and she decided it was worth the risk to see if her body would allow her to sit on the ground and see if he would come close. He did. He stayed. She took photos but also took in the moment. Was he as comforted by her presence as she was by his? This didn't happen when she was standing up. There was something about sitting on the ground that allowed everything else to come closer.

She thought of how she had experienced this same response with her nieces and nephews when they were young. How sitting on the ground had allowed her to listen and respond in a different way and how the young children had responded by relaxing and opening in ways they otherwise might not. It seemed very similar with birds.

She stayed until her body insisted she stand again, which she did very slowly. The grebe moved away but not very far. He stayed rather near the rest of the time she was there. Perhaps she had made a new friend. For certain she had experienced the joy of connection. She hoped she would be able to sit on the ground tomorrow.

I’m not sure what made him jump, but you can see he jumped towards me not away!

Hello friends! I hope this week finds you as well as you can be. I continue to improve from sciatica and as my little story indicates, I was even able to sit on the ground briefly. Sitting is not a thing I ever thought I’d miss but after 12 weeks with as little sitting as possible I can honestly say I will be grateful when I no longer have to think carefully about sitting. I especially long to sit on the ground and breathe in the sunrise.

Migrating gadwalls with one mallard thrown in. Sing along with me, “one of these is not like the other.”

Meanwhile fall migration has started in earnest. Flocks of robins, blue jays, grackles and yellow-rumped warblers fill the trees while flocks of gulls and ducks cover the skies. My biggest challenge now is keeping up with the photos and videos! If you have considered a paid subscription, now is a great time to do it as we head into the best seasons of the year. Paid subscribers get additional photo posts 2x/week. You can subscribe for as little as one month ($5) to check it out and revert to free anytime.

Cool mornings create fog as the cool air meets the warmer water which makes for some lovely sunrises even in our continuing drought. For example, this sunrise from October 8th:

And this one from October 10th:

The fish are jumping and the gulls are diving for them (in this case a ring-billed gull):

The leaves are changing and falling quickly. It won’t be our best year for fall colors as we’ve had so little rain the last three months, but there is still beauty to be found.

Be well friends. Take good care of your hearts, minds and bodies.