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Journey into New Normal - Day 62

May 22, 2020

 

Today’s image – At dusk, I watched a frenzy of swifts dance into the summer stack like a fistful of pennies whirling in slow motion around a vortex funnel.  Hundreds flew in wide noisy parabolas, and then unceremoniously dropped like feathered stones, out of sight. I tried to imagine what it looked like inside the red brick column, how each swift clung to his measure of mortar. If I could hover, owl silent above the chimney mouth, I could take in an excellent view of their box, study how their collective bodies resemble a dark cousin to the coral reefs. I would love to ask them some questions about displacement. After a hundred winters and demise has gobbled most of the chimney, where then does this frenzy go?  How many nights can the refugees make do in unwelcomed places, keeping an eye on the horizon?  Birds don’t know time.

I thinned out the root seedlings in the box gardens, tucked in some annuals at the entrance bed. I’m giving more attention to small events that build moments into days. Some days it feels like we have stepped above the fourth dimension, trying to move our narrative along at ten feet using a nine-foot grabber.  There is a bit of drift to the days.  I’ve slowed down enough to enjoy the view from the be here now window. Sometimes, my inner dialogue sounds something like this - Now, well, I feel well, maybe a host, and if the fever comes, how will I feel? Will I split my moments in half and then in half again to catch my breath?  Will I hold my head over the sink, praying, praying, praying? Will I start at the beginning? Well, I am well. This looping mirage makes me tired.  Better to be here now. Pay attention.

There are those swifts again.


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