For the New Year: When Words Take Flight

A new year is like an expanse of fresh fallen snow. It’s an opportunity to refocus on the important things in life. An opportunity to leave fresh footprints; to impact the lives of those around us in uplifting ways. Mother Teresa said it so well, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”

Let us greet the new year with anticipation!

Those words are…Simple. Powerful. Hopeful. They remind me of Robert Browning’s phrase, “The best is yet to be.”  The whole Rabbi Ben Ezra poem is 1,242 words in length; it’s the first six or eleven words that we remember. Birds, poems, and quotes all have something in common; in that they are small things that give us beauty and inspiration. Start your new year by visiting these hand-picked, bird loving poems where words have taken flight.  It’s sure to put a winter song in your heart!

Winter Song:  Singing Leaves

The winter winds blow raw and chill,
The earth is blanketed in snow –
It’s bleak and bare and cold and stark
And yet to me it isn’t so.

For just outside my windowpane
There stands my own enchanted tree;
Its limbs are bare and shorn of green
And all of summer filigree.

But on a sunny winter’s day,
The little sparrows gather there
And fluffing up their feathered plume
Their chit-chat warms the winter air.

Each little bird a singing leaf,
A chirping chorus as they cling
To branches stark and cold and bare,
Yet holding all the joy of spring.

Gail James Vineer
Birdsong

“Singing Leaves” speaks to the special place in my heart reserved for white throated sparrows. They’re common, everywhere, and largely go unnoticed. Their shades of brown whisper in the winter woods. While the red of cardinals dazzle us, the sparrow blends. Know who else noticed sparrows? Jesus. It wasn’t the brightly beautiful or the thrilling vocalist…it was the ordinary sparrow and the common people plus the social outcasts. Most of us are a variation of the ‘ordinary’ little brown sparrows. I agree with J.R.R. Tolkien, “I have found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”

Gail Vineer’s poem reminds me of “Crystalline Winter”. The photo features a delicate crystal bird with a white throated sparrow. Compare the glass to what happens in nature. Each twig and bough are encased in a crystal-clear sheath of ice, creating a breathtaking spectacle. Sunlight filters through the icy canopy, refracting into a million sparkling diamonds. It’s a scene of both fragility and awe-inspiring beauty, a testament to the power and artistry of nature in the depths of winter.

Now compare the glass bird to the creature that inspired it. Each weigh about the same as several paperclips. The glass bird is frozen in time. The crystal, though beautiful and delicate, lacks life. It’s perfectly still, a stark contrast to the flutter of the sparrow’s wings. The glass bird’s eyes don’t see or blink. It’s the curious tilt of the head and sparkle of the eye that engages us with the white throated sparrow. The glass bird is a static echo of a living bird. It’s manmade; something beautiful that captures form but lacks life. The Creator made little brown birds that forage, flock, and fly. And just listen to their song!

Winter is a quiet time where many of us tend to be indoors. The perfect time for renewal and reflection.  There’s time to read and knit, do puzzles and listen to music. And of course, feed the flocks of cold, hungry, birds. It’s tranquil entertainment, punctuated by fun and noisy board games with friends!  A rejuvenating time when long ground-covering strides relax into a gentler walk. In the stillness, we savor memories of the year. We learn from our mistakes, celebrate our successes, and set meaningful goals for the future. As Anne Bradstreet put it, “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”

“Prelude to Spring” celebrates the beauty of winter while looking forward to spring. I was surprised to discover that while some American Robins migrate seasonally, others are year-round residents. Robins seem to disappear in winter because their behavior changes during the cold months. They form large, roving flocks that can consist of hundreds or thousands of birds. These flocks are often found in areas rich in fruit, including crabapples, hawthorns, holly, juniper, and other fruiting plants. The one in my photo seems to be a loner taking the flight less travelled. Maybe he found the single crabapple tree on our property; and he accidentally happened on the warmth of a flickering flame.

What tracks will you make in the newly fallen snows of the new year? May they be both fun and purposeful.

Did you enjoy the unusual bird photography? I create special scenes for the birds to ‘play’. They never cease to amaze me. Visit AzarElGreetings.com . It’s even better to visit in person at a craft show!

Smiles!