Bird Work Friday Round-Up

I did good this week. I had some jobs to do – expected and unexpected – as the chair of our county’s commission on aging and I did okay. It’s still amazing to me how much of the time I stumble through events on instinct, not hearing specific requests or directions because suddenly the noise in the room has gotten too loud and the ceilings too high. At one point, I put my hands on the shoulders of an elected official and asked, “what exactly is it that you need me to do?” and she told me. And so I presented a commendation to a good friend for his years of service to the community. And I was beaming every minute. So, that was a good part of the week.

A bird has been setting up housekeeping on our porch. She has been flying in an out of an old bird house that we keep on the porch railing for decoration. Sometimes, she is only about three feet away from me but she fears not – which I take as testament to her bravery and my positive bird vibe.

Someone very beloved in our town has died. He was a musician, a percussionist, a man who played many drums and taught many children. But I did not know him. Still, it is sad – because so many people loved him and because he was just 47 years old. The fair thing is that everyone gets to live a long time. The unfair thing is that some people die in the middle of a long time. There is no reason to this, just happenstance. I see that.

My friend of forty-five years gave me unsolicited advice today. It came from what is for her a well of common sense. This was after we’d gone to beginner’s line dancing class at a senior center and got certificates of completion so we would kick ourselves in the butt and start dancing with the more accomplished folks. We are beginners. We are experienced. We fumble. We glide. Line dancing is a metaphor for the universe.

In order to avoid angst about the debt ceiling, we are heading to Lake Superior tomorrow. There we will eat pasties and whitefish, do away with a box of donuts, and watch the barn swallows zoom in and out of the birdhouses. We’ll see if our neighbors came back and walk on the beach and, when it gets dark, we’ll check in on the news and see if the government has decided to govern or is still flopping about like fourth graders playing dodge ball at the last recess of the year.