Her First Bird by Bernie Paquette

                             Her First Bird

Lily awoke to a dim, overcast, light-starved day. Her bedroom walls screamed of silent musicians, ballerinas that froze dance with their toes forever locked in place, while the ceiling tried but failed to grant wishes with green luminescent stars. However, nothing inside her room awakened her spirit enough to lift the bedspread cover - though the unicorn surrounded by a rainbow seemed poised to lift off into the sky. The quiet was the only thing that could draw her out of bed now that she was awake. Lily could not stand the quiet, alone in her own head was too much solitude. “Compee, (her pet name for her voice-activated computer) what time is it?” she queried, slightly curious why no light entered her window and no sound livened her room.

     “It is 5 A.M.,” responded the lifeless stoic machine. 

     “Why did you wake me up so early?” Lily berated her mechanical companion. “I must be the only living thing awake at this hour,” she continued. 

     

     “Ms Lily”, the computer formally responded, “There are multitudes of living animals awake and about at this time – why not you? Might I list some of them for you?”

     Without waiting for an answer, digital nature spewed out. “Birds for instance, in your very backyard, including perhaps Northern Cardinals as red as cherries, tuxedoed woodpeckers, chickadees first to the breakfast table, nuthatches racing down trees, juncos, Mourning Doves, bluejays, and…” Before the listing could finish, Lily cut short the nature lesson requesting music to lift her up out of bed. The computer speakers remained silent. Before Lily could reprimand the machine, her ears caught an unfamiliar sound. Was someone whistling to her at this early hour?

     Dreamily Lily put one foot to the floor, then two. Walking felt like floating as she moved toward the sound at her bedroom window facing her backyard. Now she heard a tapping sound like tiny hail hitting the window. The floor creaked as she moved. Funny she never noticed the floor creaking before. Even the curtains whispered – what - a warning, or good morning. 

     Slowly, cautiously with two nimble fingers, and one leg outstretched in the opposite direction in preparation to run away from the window, she opened the curtain just enough to see a sliver of red. “Horror of horrors”, she screamed and darted back to her bed and covered her-self, including her head, in the billowing puffy bedspread. Even the unicorn quivered and shivered in fright.

     After a few minutes of quiet, Lily decided her eyes must have deceived her. Perhaps a piece of red plastic, whipped up by wind, splattered against the windowpane. “Computer, what is on my window?” she nervously asked. No response came from the box of silicon chips.  With mounting courage, Lily thought “Darned computer. I will just have to look again for myself.” Once again, one foot touched the floor, then another. Once again the floor squeaked. Once again, the curtain whispered. Again, the ticking, tapping, now drumming sound came from the window. Summoning up the bravado of her cartoon superheroes, she whipped the curtain open – a flash of red cape streaked away and upward towards the leafless oak tree a few feet from her window.

      Now more curious than fearful, Lily stopped, looked, and listened. She of course was not unaware of cardinals, but never had she been so upfront and personal with one.    She wondered why it had nearly entered her bedroom, her domain. The cardinal raised a tuffet atop his head, stretched his neck and beak upward, and released a loud string of clear down-slurred and two-parted whistles, often speeding up and ending in a slow trill. The song lasted two to three seconds, with a brief pause then resumed. Lily thought “He sounds like he is singing, cheer, cheer, cheer, or birdie, birdie, birdie.” Suddenly a flash of black and white landed close to the cardinal, which responded with a loud metallic chipping to warn off the unwanted guest from his territory. “Well”, thought Lily, “Compee was right, there are other creatures awake and about. I wonder what other nature neighbors are nearby,” she mused. 

     As the wind rustled up freshly fallen snow, a Carolina Wren, bearing the cold, patronizing the seed, suet, peanuts , and peanut-butter restaurant in Lily’s backyard, voiced a loud 3-part phrase sounding like “tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle”.    

As though announcing, spring will come. This gave Lily a warm feeling and she even imagined the smell of a wisp of peppermint and rose hips in the air.

     Another reminder of breakfast landed on a feeder perch, a male Purple Finch with a raspberry pink-red head, mixing with brown on the back, and cloudy white on the belly.  

This bird had a powerful conical beak and a notched tail. It seemed to be singing hear me?-see-me?-here-I-am. Lily imagined the bird reached into her neighbor Gaye's fresh homemade raspberry jam and fell in headfirst. 

     Throughout each new bird’s visit, chickadees darted in and out, weighing each seed carefully then darting off to a nearby branch to remove the shell and devour the sunflower seed.  Lily never witnessed such an eating frenzy except when dad tackles a lobster. Lily thought, “That little bird must expend almost as much energy getting the seed as it obtains in calories from eating the seed. They sure do look trim, fit, and full of energy.”

 To which the Chickadee replied a simple pure 2 or 3-note, whistled hey, sweetie and then, chickadee dee dee dee in alarm when a Goldfinch landed nearby.   

     Goldfinches looping in-flight dropped down onto the oak as though they were falling en masse from the sky then rising as though on a volcanic upthrust. Their worn faded yellow feathers had begun to rejuvenate into golden yellow. Lily thought, “Goldfinches remind me though the sun may fade, or fail to shine some days, time will restore the warm gold rays.” As they later flew away, they expressed their contact call, sounding like po-ta-to-chip.

     Deep in thought, Lily began to ponder, “Why have I not heard such songs before? What might a woodpecker song sound like?” As if on cue a medium-size woodpecker (Hairy Woodpecker) with a square head, a long straight, chisel-like bill, and stiff, long tail feathers used to lean against on tree trunks – began to tap against the oak tree with a bill nearly the same length as its head. The rapid and even pace drumming consisted of about 26 beats in one second. This, being a form of communication and not an attempt to drill into the tree for insects, was in response to the cardinal.  Both viewed each other as intruders. Lily asked aloud, “Should I too sing or tap on my window to defend my territory?” She giggled at the thought, but the birds paid scant attention to her. 

     As Lily’s attention turned to what she might wear today, she looked to the birds for fashionable ideas. She noted that the woodpecker wore contrasting black and white. Black wings checkered with white; the head with two white stripes. Being a male, it had a flash of red toward the back of the head. A large white patch ran down the center of its black back.  “So Goth”, thought Lily in appreciation of the uniqueness of this formidable-looking bird. “But mom would definitely not approve of such an attire on me,” she laughed.

     Meanwhile, another flying animal planed down to the oak tree. As the cardinal speaks of heart-red, the Blue Jay heralds its name. The large crested songbird with a broad rounded tail landed like an air force fighter plane. White to light gray underneath with various shades of blue, black, and white above. It announced the air FORCE had arrived.  The Blue Jay immediately called out a loud jeer, followed by clear whistled notes and gurgling sounds that made Lily laugh with delight. Seeing the other two birds nearby, the Jay snapped its bill in intense aggressive displays.

     Once each bird adjusted to the others nearby, the Blue Jay began its song, of sorts – a whisper song – a soft quiet conglomeration of clicks, chucks, whirrs, whines, liquid notes, and other calls, lasting longer than two minutes. Remembering when she was a wee little lass, full of health and joy, Lily recalled listening with her grandfather, to Peter, Paul, and Mary. They sang “The Marvelous Toy” with many colors bright, that went zip when it moved, and bop when it stopped, and brrrrrr when it stood still. The Blue Jay’s song stood in good measure with “The Marvelous Toy” song. Lily decided to name her marvelous new blue friend, “Grandpa J”. 

  

     A knock sounded on Lily’s bedroom door. “Are you up already?” her mom asked. “I heard you moving about, but did not hear that loud blasting you call music, nor did I hear you typing on your computer, or talking on your cell phone. Is everything all right?”

     “I’m fine mom. I am enjoying some quiet; I think they call it solitude. I was kind of lost in my own thoughts,” Lily responded.

      “Is your computer not working?” her mom asked.

     “Compee is working better than ever, mom. I asked her for uplifting music. She led me to delightful and cheery spring music. The band is right outside my window. The band members are Northern Cardinals as red as cherries, tuxedoed woodpeckers, chickadees first to the breakfast table, nuthatches racing down trees, juncos, Mourning Doves, Grandpa J, and…”

     “Ok dear”, her mother replied. “Perhaps you had better get a little more sleep. Besides it is a dull dreary late winter day outside - not much to do.”

     “Ah, but mom, on the contrary, spring is announcing itself, my outdoor friends are singing and showing off their new outfits, ground critters are dancing on their toes, and Granpa J is happily blue as ever.”

      Lily’s mother started to wonder what happened to her daughter overnight. Before she could query Lily further, the bedroom door opened. Lily, dressed in a multitude of bright colors, wearing a beaming smile, and whistling a new tune, chirped to her mom “Mom, can I stay up late tonight to watch the ‘real stars’?”

      Her mom replied, “Well, I guess so, given you managed to get yourself up so early this morning. Why the sudden interest in the outdoors?”

     Lily paused, and then responded, “I want to see if the real outdoor stars twinkle and shine brightly, and shoot across the sky. I will wish upon my star, to meet more avian musicians and natural clothes designers and other outdoor nature wonders.”

     Walking away a bit bewildered, Lily’s mother thought, “Well this is a first for Lily, she looks like she is radiating with sunlight. But who the heck is Granpa J?”    

This story was written in honor of a special Lily - may she view the world through nature and come away radiating with sunlight.  

Bernie Paquette

2019

All rights reserved

In promotion of - 

Connecting children and their families to nature and to each other through time spent walking along natural area trails, even backyards, exploring observing, discovering, and learning – outdoors.

Get outdoors – a good way to develop hyper-awareness, and self-confidence. Nature informs all the senses.

“Stress reduction, greater physical health, a deeper sense of spirit, more creativity, a sense of play, even a safer life - these are the rewards that await a family when it invites more nature into children’s lives.” The Last Woods, by Richard Louv

Quotes about Storytelling

·        "There's always room for a story that can transport people to another place." --J.K. Rowling

·        "Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today." --Robert McKee 

·        "The human species thinks in metaphors and learns through stories." --Mary Catherine Bateson

·        "Sometimes reality is too complex. Stories give it form." --Jean Luc Godard

·        "Story is a yearning meeting an obstacle." --Robert Olen Butler

·        Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it." --Hannah Arendt

             Nothing but blue skies coming our way!