Feathers

"Hope" is the thing with feathers  

that perches in the soul 

and sings the tune without the words  

and never stops at all 

And sweetest in the Gale is heard 

and sore must be the storm 

that could abash the little bird 

that kept so many warm 

I've heard it in the chillest land 

and on the strangest sea 

yet, never in extremity, 

it asked a crumb of Me. 

~ Emily Dickinson 

Isn't that poem just lovely? I love the thought of hope being a bird and taking flight. Sometimes a little hope is just what we need. That things will start to get into a rhythm again. That with the sun comes the rain but then the sun again.  After a two week break from our beach mornings, Liam and I packed our one bag and blanket and headed down to one of our two spots. And oh what a morning it was. All of our favorite feathered friends came out to play. 

Isn't it funny how having a child has the ability to in a sense rewrite you? I would have never pegged myself as a naturalist. To be honest, I tend to not really look and observe. Feel. That is what I do best. Sensory. When going to the beach it use to be about the sand and the water and the sun. Oh the sun. Hours upon hours of lying on a towel and letting the sun just burn away the cares and stresses that life can bring. Yes please! But lately things have been changing. Watching a little one gives little time for closing ones eyes and letting the sun melt oneself into the sand. But observing? Oh Yes! There is so much time to observe the surroundings. To observe the rocks and the sand and the treasures we find at the beach. Today's said treasures came in the feathered variety. Oh those birds.  I bought a pocket guidebook a while back of the animals here on this island of ours because I wanted to be able to point things out to Liam and tell him their names. To help him notice. All of the beauty around us. And of the splendor we live in. And because I am a kinesthetic learner, I started a journal with both word and sketches of all the things I am learning about our little corner in the world. By drawing what I see, it has helped me so much in filing these tidbits of information into my longterm memory.  And I am excited for the day when Liam and I are able to start a little journal of his own. 

Hope and feathers indeed.