The world has been chaotic lately, to say the least. Most of us try and find peace and beauty wherever we can. Luckily, because of my mother’s favorite hobby, peace and beauty are just a windowpane away. This all started with one bird feeder on our back deck. And then, things took flight from there.
Mom loved the wide variety of songbirds that flocked to this one container. So, she added a couple more—some hanging from branches, a few suet cakes in metal grids, and plastic see-through structures that hugged the windows with suction cups. Soon there were feeders outside the front and back windows. Our house had gone bird crazy!
Now instead of giving my fit, silver-haired Mom gifts of blouses or Amazon cards, we give her bags of birdseed. Every day, she’s out there, often several times. If we’re in for rough weather—a blizzard or ice storm—she makes sure the bins are stocked.
“Be careful,” I’ll say as she goes onto our deck to make a path in the snow to her feeders. “I’m fine,” she’ll answer, with surprising determination from my usually easy-going mother. The birds must be fed!
And what do we get in return?
Magic.
Gentle gray doves, blue jays, bright red cardinals, black and white striped woodpeckers, and nuthatches flutter about. Adorable tufted titmice, juncos, and brown and white sparrows galivant. Because of the see-through plastic window feeders, I can stand two feet away from a little chickadee pecking through the seed. Of course, as soon as I move, the birds flutter away… but soon they’re back.
Mom has even learned to outwit the squirrels—no easy task. Squirrels are geniuses at climbing poles (even slippery ones), grasping onto window ledges, flinging themselves from branch to branch until they get perilously close to the feeders. Mom doesn’t mind feeding them here and there, but when they go through a bag of food a day, that cuts into the budget. Besides, the squirrels get whatever is spilled on the ground.
Sometimes when I see all this lovely movement, I think of that haunting song from the movie, “Mary Poppins,” which I loved as a child. At St. Paul’s cathedral in London, a kind woman sells bags of dry breadcrumbs to encourage people to feed the birds.
As Julie Andrews sang…
“Feed the Birds, tuppence a bag. Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag. Their young ones are hungry, their nests are so bare. All it takes is tuppence from you.”
Last week, it was snowing again, and the birds were aswirl, enjoying their latest banquet. The blue jays and red cardinals looked especially dazzling against the white backdrop. I stopped to take it in, grateful that my mother provides these wonderful moments.
Still, occasionally I’m reminded that this can be a cruel world.
The other day, I heard a screech outside the front window. Hurrying over, I saw a red-tailed hawk hovering about. No doubt he was trying to snatch one of my beautiful little nuthatches or chickadees. When he sensed my presence, he flew away. I prayed he didn’t have one of those little creatures in his talons.
And yes, I know the hawk must eat too. I just don’t like the system.
In the meantime, all we can do is enjoy these uplifting avian sights while we can. No one knows what’s going to happen in the bigger world, which makes these moments feel even more precarious and precious.
And all it takes is “tuppence a bag.”
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