How to Make These Next Few Weeks a Little Easier, Courtesy of Birds, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

I wouldn’t go as far as saying that I’ve been anti-bird, but I have seldom felt common-cause with the bird-watching set. For the past couple of weeks, though, birds, just the everyday around town birds, have fascinated me. Perhaps because I can see and hear them without the distractions of urban life that have largely melted away. Oliver and I spent 20 minutes just looking at the interplay between ducks and gulls and the outflow of Government Pond a couple of Sundays ago.

I often talk about the power of birds, but this year they take on an even more powerful meaning. They enliven our days, brighten the trees, serenade in our backyards and city parks, and bestow us with so much joy and hope, all bundled together in feathers and lively personalities.

That’s a paragraph that I’m particularly able to accept this morning.