Pondered on the porch with my bagel this morning. The sky was so blue and the clouds so white. I love these days when there is the slightest touch of fall in the sky color. The leaves are beginning to slip into their colorful fall sweaters, dressed up for their flight to the earth’s floor. I love cool mornings and enjoy sitting in the swing as the day warms up. My bird friends dropped some sunflower seeds in the side yard and grew a sunny bouquet of sunflowers for me. I cut them today. They grew in the tangled growth that had been cut off the side yard of my house. A little ray of sunshine on a barren wasteland of vines and leaves.

The sunset was so pretty tonight. Mother Nature lay the sun down under her mother’s patchwork quilt of pink and turquoise clouds. The horizon was full of heavy purple rain clouds and thunder bid the day adieu. The bamboo were dancing and swaying with the twilight’s wind, doing a rain dance that failed to produce. They really put on a show though, bending over and clapping together.

Lots of birds in the yard today, singing and visiting the feeders and bird baths, their happy chatter making music in the sunshine. I’ve loved birds since I was a child. My father and I used to walk around on one of his farms he called “The Bottoms” on Sunday afternoons. While we walked he’d point out the birds and mimic their calls with his whistles. He helped me learn to identify them by their feathers and their chirrups. I treasure these memories now.

The morning after my daughter was killed in a car wreck I woke up to a beautiful Spring day, blue sky and bright sunshine. I was standing at the back door looking out in the yard and wondering how the world could be spinning on its axis and the sun shining when my child had been killed in a car wreck the day before. While I was staring out in the yard, this fat little beautifully feathered sparrow landed on the wrought iron porch bannister and stared right at me with its dark eyes. I had the strangest sensation that sparrow was Rosie telling me she was okay. The sparrow sat there forever, keeping eye contact with me, not even moving when I opened the door and walked out on the porch. I felt it was a gift from God telling me that Rosie was safe in his care and my faith would get me through this tragedy. As I calmed my thoughts the little sparrow spread her wings and took flight.

When Chief died we chose a cardinal for the cover of his funeral announcements. I have so many cardinals in my yard all day long. I honestly feel he sends them to me. Occasionally a large cardinal with a scruffy crest will sit on the bannister and stare at me. I always call him Chief and tell him I miss him. Can’t help but wonder if he comes down for a visit. I always have a dozen or more pairs of cardinals in my yard each day and more in the winter on cold days.

Birds singing in the morning are welcoming the day and praising God. Seeing a cardinal after the death of a loved one is thought to be a spiritual sign from heaven. In art, the Holy Spirit, is portrayed as a dove. A dove is a symbol of peace. The eagle is a symbol of strength.

Birds are our connection to the natural world and to our spiritual world. Birds pollinate plants, eat insects, clean up road kill, and spread seeds. They are beautiful to watch as they go about their days’ chores. Birds make us happy and bird watching can lower blood pressure, calms our minds, and reduce stress. It works for me. Sitting in the swing and watching the birds on the feeders gives me a peaceful, happy feeling. Helps me feel all is right within my world.

We can learn some lessons from the birds, too. They show up early and get their business done. Always heard the early bird gets the worm. They are cheerful and sing the day away not bothered by circumstances they can’t control. We worry about so many things we can’t control and most of our worries never come to fruition. Yard cats in the United States kill 1.3 to 4 billion birds each year but that does not deter the birds from their daily activities. It’s hard to be confident when life throws a curve in our plans but with God’s help we can persevere through the challenges. Through prayers and faith, anything is possible. Birds enjoy the earth’s different seasons and adapt to the changing weather and its temperatures. I know I complain about the heat in the summer and then complain about turning on the heat in the winter. We’re never satisfied.

Even though they spread their wings and fly from their nests, birds will eventually return home. We’ll eventually return home, too, and be reunited with our loves ones who went to their heavenly home before us.

“No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.” — William Blake