How I Got My Wings, Part 1: Dead Cardinal
/
Sometimes we don’t know we’ve started a new story until we are well into it. It’s only looking back that we realize, “Ah, this is different, new.” Sometimes we simply choose a starting place and tell the story from there. I choose one year ago today as the beginning of this story.
That day I was walking down Frankfort Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky in an area with lots of restaurants and shops. All of a sudden in front of me in the middle of the sidewalk I noticed a dead cardinal. Though we’ve unfortunately seen too many unexpected dead birds in the later parts of 2021, at the end of 2020 it was unusual to see a dead bird anywhere, let alone on a sidewalk in a business area.
I felt a jolt of sadness to see this once vibrant being no longer able to spread wings, song, and joy through the neighborhood. I paused, not quite knowing what to do.
If I had had some sort of cloth with me, I would have very gently moved it off to the side of the sidewalk. More than once I’ve stopped my car upon seeing a dead cat in the road, wrapped the body in whatever fabric was in my car, and moved the lifeless form out of the way of further mangling. I did it to honor the life lost and with hope that this act of care might bring a moment of comfort to the people who had lost a family member.
That day I had nothing with which to move the cardinal. I took a picture, I think to somehow honor this being, and made a mental note to come back to move the body. Then I continued on my way.
I am good at being present...sometimes. And I have lots of good intentions. My memory and follow-through are less reliable. Despite the photo I had taken, I forgot about the cardinal.
At the start of 2021 it became clear to me that I should pay attention to birds. Notice them. Study them. Learn from them. As one way to commemorate this invitation to be with the birds, I even bought leggings with a feather image pattern. Birds were going to be my thing.
Despite this newfound commitment, by the start of 2021 I had forgotten the cardinal on the sidewalk.
Read How I Got My Wings, Part 2: Second Encounter here.