Bird Song

This morning there are birds singing their songs outside. It is a little past dawn and they have found their voices. The world is full of music, whistles, toots, trills, chirps, and calls. There is a female cardinal (looks like an adolescent) sitting on my back fence right now. She's keeping an eye on the cat while we both sit and watch her.

My life has been full of thoughts about birds lately. I started this month with a talk to the United Methodist Women about the power of music and the gifts that we get from music. My Fridays have been spent talking to my kids about Spring - we've been listening to different bird calls from the birds that have a presence in our state. 

I've been trying to listen to bird songs. Many of my work mornings, I leave before the sun rises. Most of the birds have been asleep. There have been a few intrepid bird souls who are early risers like me, but they are not the big singers. This morning was full of bird song.

There is something about being in a world that is full of music that energizes me.

There are some folks out there who would not categorize bird song as music, but I do. I often find music in everyday situations that others do not consider to be music. Some people feel that music is a phenomenon that is strictly human. I disagree. I think that the birds sing to greet the day. They sing because they can. They are alerting the rest of us to the uniqueness of each new dawn and may be trying to get us up so we can share in the miracle of the sun rising. I think they purposefully make their sounds, not just to communicate, but to contribute to the world in a musical manner. Even if they do not intend to make music, the sounds that they make are musical to me.

The birds sing, I listen, and the cat purrs. What a wonderful symphony for this Saturday morning!