Rain on our lake side bar.
Just before the storm, dozens and dozens of grackles descended on camp. I've never seen anything quite like it. Grackles are not easy to love - they are loud, aggressive, and not very pretty - and my immediate inclination was to rush outside and make a big racket to scare them away.
Thankfully, before doing that, I observed that they were all madly pecking apart the tent caterpillar cocoons and eating like a troop of starving boy scouts on a camping trip.
Although they missed a few before flying away, like Carnies in the night, those grackles had stripped away thousands of next year's little troublemakers. Suddenly, the evil black ones became more loveable.
I marveled and meditated later, immersed in the beauty of the patterns of rain on the bar, and the wonder of the birds.
And I reminisced about lost friends and failed relationships. I wonder if a moment of quiet reflection before making the big racket might have made a difference...
Just before the storm, dozens and dozens of grackles descended on camp. I've never seen anything quite like it. Grackles are not easy to love - they are loud, aggressive, and not very pretty - and my immediate inclination was to rush outside and make a big racket to scare them away.
Thankfully, before doing that, I observed that they were all madly pecking apart the tent caterpillar cocoons and eating like a troop of starving boy scouts on a camping trip.
Although they missed a few before flying away, like Carnies in the night, those grackles had stripped away thousands of next year's little troublemakers. Suddenly, the evil black ones became more loveable.
I marveled and meditated later, immersed in the beauty of the patterns of rain on the bar, and the wonder of the birds.
And I reminisced about lost friends and failed relationships. I wonder if a moment of quiet reflection before making the big racket might have made a difference...
