SYMBOLS OF HOPE IN TROUBLED TIMES

Grasshopper Sparrow

Faced with the deadly coronavirus pandemic, a collapse of the American economy, more than forty million people unemployed, chronic racism and racial violence, rioting and looting provoked by opportunistic anarchists, and a narcissistic president who has neither the empathy nor the competence to deal effectively with any of these pressing issues, it is increasingly difficult to greet each day with any sense of hope for the future.  Indeed, many of us live with a gnawing feeling that we are treading on the hard edge of despair.

There is always hope, however, if we just look for it in the right places, and one of the places I personally choose is nature.  In nature, we are constantly reminded that everything is interconnected, that beauty is always a manifestation of contrast, and that diversity is central to all growth, survival, and prosperity.

Within the natural world, birding is a particular source of inspiration for me.  Think for a moment about the small grasshopper sparrow belting out its morning song in the photo at the top of this posting.  These sparrows are so fragile — an average weight of six tenths of an ounce — that it is hard to imagine how they survive the devastating  storms that have been passing through my area in the past few weeks.  They have done more than survive, however; they have prevailed and risen at first light to deliver new gifts of beauty, song, and friendship.  This, to me, is the essence of hope.

Below are some images of other inspirational birds I have spent time with lately.  I have also paired these images with inspirational quotes on hope by some of the people I have long admired. Enjoy.

Dickcissel

"Hope" is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all.

Emily Dickinson

                                                         

Blue Grosbeak

Hold fast to dreams,

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird,

That cannot fly.

Langston Hughes

Barn Owl

There is a crack

 in everything.

That's how the light gets in.

Leonard Cohen

 Northern Rough-necked Swallow

You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going.  What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope."

 Thomas Merton

Dickcissel

      We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Blue Grosbeak

 The future is an infinite succession of presents, 

and to live now as we think human beings should live, 

in defiance of all that is bad around us,

is itself a marvelous victory.

Howard Zinn

Dickcissel

You an cut all the flowers 

but you cannot keep Spring from coming.

Pablo Neruda

Barn Swallow

The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something.  Don't wait for good things to happen to you.  If you go out and make some good things happen, you will feel the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope."

Barack Obama 

  

      Grasshopper Sparrow

PEACE

             

WELCOMING A NEW FRIEND

Barred Owl (Owlet)

Home 

Upstate South Carolina

These images of a young barred owlet

were made about fifteen minutes after it 

 emerged from its nest in an old sycamore cavity 

and experienced the outside world for the first time.

All of this occurred about forty feet from our veranda.

A RARE SIGHT

Brown Booby (Immature)

Swan Lake

Furman University

Greenville, South Carolina

The Brown Booty

is a large, tropical seabird

that is rarely seen near the land

 of the United States, with the exception

of the coastal areas

of southern Florida and southern California.

Nature is unpredictable, however, 

and one of these magnificent birds

has strayed out of its natural habitat and

taken refuge, at least temporarily, on a beautiful

lake at one of our South Carolina universities.