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Those of you who might have scanned through previous posts might know that I’m somewhat of a bird nerd. My wife and I have spent many an evening watching the visitors to our backyard feeders and have enjoyed the Zen they tend to bring. One of the highlights of our bird species attention is the appearance of the Cedar Waxwing, which only shows up in the south during winter. We saw some last year, but they only stayed briefly because of what I imagine is a limited berry supply. Amazingly, this year we’ve seen them at both of our respective employment. We may not be able to sip wine and look at them from our back porch, but they are populating our work life.

I’ve seen flocks of up to near 50 sharking the berries where I work. One day this week one probably had too berries and smacked into the large glass windows of my business. It was stunned and confused enough for me to be able to physically handle it. To hold such a beautiful yet small creature was an immeasurable joy, since their fragility is only matched by their beauty. I was in full “nurse back to health mode”, being prepared to take him home. Problems of how I would actually do this plagued me, however, and I was relieved that when I went back to check on its condition that it regained its senses and flew away at my touch.

I returned to work this week and the flock had moved on. I never really realized that I could experience such joy from such a small thing as observing natures ebb and flow. Just reminds me that all the best things in life are free.

View some images of the Cedar Waxwing Rescue