*** BirdSong ***

Artwork by Catherine Clark

Before the break of dawn , a sweet song tugs on my pillow; soon the new day will brighten and another journey for me to undertake, will begin. Time has stood still and time has fleeted , how strange and curious it is . I can never decide exactly how I should describe it, only I know I play to it's tune.

Sometimes I forget to take along my keeper of time, silly in a way, for it really doesn't hold time but rather, shows to my heart's discontent just how quickly it passes and so I have taken an affection to discard of my time piece preferring to travel by the darkness and light of night and day. Sometimes this too may be become a problem but in any case falling behind a little isn't really that much to fret about when you think about it.

Many times I may be consumed in a book or venturing into a woodland clearing discovering a fresh batch of crystal fossils waiting just for me to pick and tuck into a bag to later create a magical cottage and suddenly time seems to quickly vanish much too soon and yet when I'm lonely and in pain foolishly I will and wish the time rush by knowing quite well it never to return.

And so, because I know I cannot forget just how precious time is, I have completely embraced it ,wasting little that I can. I miss blogging but I have had to make choices of what I clearly found more important to me. Unfortunately I am one who has many aspirations but only so much energy to devote and so I had to chose.

After a long set back with varying ailments I have come to terms with my altered life and now make the best of it. There are days filled with little accomplishments and other days with more than I could have wished for .The best remedy is to do what your body and heart allows you to and contentment will follow.

Even before awakening, I hear the beautiful tranquil song of birds; undeniably to me ,messengers of our natural world. Taking life in stride and appreciating the little things is what its all about. It is when I perceive life in this light that I am most prolific and accomplish much in the creative field and that is where I find peace and satisfaction.

Presently I have been comfortably tucked in reading Don Stap's book "BirdSong"; quite an enlightenment I must say and maybe birds have more intelligence that we grant them.






It is definitely an interesting read and without question my inspiration for the bird cottage I am working on.

Imagine a world without their song ************


"Following one of the world's experts on birdsong from the woods of Martha's Vineyard to the tropical forests of Central America, Don Stap brings to life the quest to unravel an ancient mystery: Why do birds sing and what do their songs mean? We quickly discover that one question leads to another. Why does the chestnut-sided warbler sing one song before dawn and another after sunrise? Why does the brown thrasher have a repertoire of two thousand songs when the chipping sparrow has only one? And how is the hermit thrush able to sing a duet with itself, producing two sounds simultaneously to create its beautiful, flutelike melody?Stap's lucid prose distills the complexities of the study of birdsong and unveils a remarkable discovery that sheds light on the mystery of mysteries: why young birds in the suborder oscines -- the "true songbirds" -- learn their songs but the closely related suboscines are born with their songs genetically encoded. As the story unfolds, Stap contemplates our enduring fascination with birdsong, from ancient pictographs and early Greek soothsayers, who knew that bird calls represented the voices of the gods, to the story of Mozart's pet starling.In a modern, noisy world, it is increasingly difficult to hear those voices of the gods. Exploring birdsong takes us to that rare place -- in danger of disappearing forever -- where one hears only the planet's oldest music."