I am an animal lover.

The only animal I can name that I actively abhor are wasps, but even then, I recognize their value in nature. But one animal I have always been particularly fond of are birds. As a kid I enjoyed going to the river to feed the ducks and geese with my mom and my brother. As a teen, I grew to love crows. We had a running joke in our family that our all black cat, Captain Jack Sparrow, was actually a crow in another life because every time we sat and watched the crows in our backyard, they reminded us of him.

Now, as an adult, I have a rejuvenated love for birds. The community college where I achieved my A.S. in English was full of different types of birds. I can’t even name them all, but I could identify their songs. I sat outside and wrote in the stone garden near the art center and watched as American robins searched in the dirty for worms and other tasty morsels. They also battled with the squirrels at times, and that was something to see up close.

The university I attended was literally clothed in crows. Even the cafe/bookstore on campus was called “The Cup and Crow.” I sat and watched these birds fly around, talk to each other, fight over branches, and mimic other birds in the area just for fun. Many of us believed the school was haunted, so the presence of the crows only added to the aesthetic.

I continue to feed the ducks and the geese either cracked corn or wild foul feed, and their presence soothes me. I love seeing birds, hearing their songs, watching them flit about, splash in water, and eat. Their little lives fascinate me endlessly. There’s a beautiful peace that’s carried by their presence. When I’m hiking, I always revel in the songs of birds among the trees. When I’m driving, I watch out for Red-tailed hawks and Peregrine falcons perching on power lines or standing in the grass looking for mice. Birds help to center me, ground me, remind me how much I am apart of the natural world.

I’ve taken to setting up bird feeders and a bird bath on my patio. It’s been attracting various types of birds, though so far the most frequent visitors are Stellar’s jays, chestnut-backed chickadees, and red-breasted nuthatches. About a week ago, I saw two lesser goldfinches, but they didn’t stay long and I haven’t seen them since. This morning I went outside to fill the bird bath and refill one of the bird feeders, and what seemed to be a Rufous hummingbird flitted around my head for a moment, before flying off. The hummingbird feeder is one I still need to place outside, but getting that close to a hummingbird was a kind of natural magic I can’t describe.

For the month of August I’ve been participating in The Sealy Challenge where you read one book of poetry every day for the entire month. Two of those books were by Mary Oliver, one of the most prolific and amazing nature poets I have ever encountered. Her poetic genius is not only inspiring, it’s also invigorating and motivational. It reminds me to take little moments in time to observe the natural world around me, to sit in silence and watch the birds eating, to try and identify what the birds are, and to allow nature to fill and soothe me.

Yesterday as I was taking our new puppy – Lady Kiki Corglesworth to you – for her nighttime walk, a bat flew right by my head. I saw it for only a few seconds, but those few seconds went by in slow motion. (I really, really love bats!) I’m not much of a city girl, I prefer the woods, but even here in the middle of Portland, I can create and maintain a loving relationship with nature. I just have to keep my eyes open. Cause while I love hiking and wandering into the woods (and intend to do so as much as I can this summer and autumn), I don’t have to go so far to connect to the natural world around me.

Now that we have some cooler weather, I hope to sit outside in the fresh air tonight and read, and write, and listen to the language of trees, of birds, of squirrels, and of the wind. And hopefully I can get my patio furniture put together so that I can enjoy our beautiful home with more convenience.