Today was so pleasant. Lots of large fluffy bleached clouds, blinding white in the warm sunshine. I did a little cloud watching till the sky became overcast. Occasionally the clouds would break apart and the blue sky canvas would be revealed. A pleasant cool wind blew off and on all day, wind strong enough to get the bamboo forest dancing in my back yard. I sat in my reading chair by the window and watched the bamboo stalks bend and sway. Occasionally I’d hear them knock together. It’s amazing how fast the new shoots grow. Some of the stalks are growing crooked, warped by May’s storm when they were young and malleable.

Years ago we had an enormous flock of black birds roost in our bamboo here in the backyard. The ground was white with their manure. They were making a terrible mess on the bamboo stalks, too. You could hear them loudly screeching in the late afternoon when they came to roost. The noise would drown out conversation at our dinner table. They would be in their bird dance, called a murmuration, twisting and twirling as they flew in to roost. Starlings, grackles, cowbirds, and red wing blackbirds flying together and dancing in the sky. Must have been thousands of them. When they flew off as a group in the mornings it sounded like a jet plane on an airport runway. The sound was deafening. I remember writing a story about the flock for The Roanoke Leader. My first published newspaper story. Had that newspaper in my resume when I had an interview with Chief. Anyway, Daddy called Auburn University and someone brought a recording and played it and the noise disturbed the birds. They left and never came back. Must have been a predator call, something they were afraid of. I can’t remember what the recording was but we were glad to be rid of them and their noise and smelly messes.

Sometimes these flocks can have millions of birds! That’s hard to believe and must be astonishing to watch. Joanna Reuter writes, “Blackbirds can congregate in enormous numbers, sometimes in mixed-species flocks with starlings and other birds. Red-winged Blackbirds hold the world record for the high count of a single species, with an estimate of 40 million individuals counted during a Christmas Bird Count in Arkansas in December, 1964.” Read somewhere else that a large river of blackbirds, that took 20 minutes to pass by, was observed in Missouri. Just wonder how they are counted. Bet the flock made beautiful patterns in the sky as they turned and twisted and flew in different directions. Always wondered how the lead bird got his position, was he old and had traveled the migration route lots of times or was it a young bird, healthy enough to keep the flock going at a steady pace. Did a little research and learned birds rotate the leader position in the migration pattern and even the weak ones get a turn.

My daddy gave me my love of birds. Lots of Sunday afternoons when I was a child I would ride to the Bottoms with him to check on the cows. He’d count them and we’d walk around and talk about birds and he’d identify the birds we saw and heard. He could whistle various bird calls. Counting the cows made me nervous. If one was missing that usually meant a walk down the railroad tracks looking for the cow. I’d pray that the cow catcher on the front of the train engine had just pushed the cow off the track. Didn’t want to see one that had been run over by the train.

Daddy taught me a lesson on most of these trips. Told me dragon flies were called “snake doctors” and when you saw a dragon fly around a creek you’d usually see a snake. Sure enough, once saw a beautiful dragon fly and a little later, a small copperhead. Taught me to walk down the railroad tracks clicking two rocks together to keep the sunbathing snakes away. Did that walk several times when he tried to teach me to drive a stick shift. I’d flood the engine, we’d walk home on the tracks clicking our rocks. Taught me not to park with a boyfriend on your own farm roads! That’s a story for another day! Taught me to be sure the farm pasture gate was securely shut. Taught me how to safely load, aim, and shoot a 410 shogun. Taught me not to be afraid of cows. And told me to never get between a cow and her new calf. Watched daddy run once and jump in the back of the truck when the mother cow got after him. Those were treasured days for just the two of us and treasured memories for me.

“The greatest legacy we can leave our children is happy memories,” — Og Mandino