Birds on a wire
Look at this branch they made for us. / So what if they forgot the leaves? / We can always build a nest somewhere else. / You have to love the face / that it joins one tree to the next, / and that it lies perfectly straight.
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The art of ornitheology
In Matthew 6, Jesus told us to “look at the birds of the air” for lessons that birds can teach us about ourselves and God’s care for us. The word “ornitheology” was coined by theologian and avid birdwatcher John Stott, blending together ornithology (the study of birds) with theology (the study of God). It’s a…
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The birdwatching boom
“When I was a kid I think [birdwatching] was perceived as uncool by most young people, and most participants were doing it as a retirement pastime and social activity,” Caleb Scholtens, a 27-year-old birdwatcher and ecologist from Hamilton, Ontario, told Christian Courier. “Now I feel like the concept of ‘uncoolness’ has weakened and people are…
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Finding empathy in the dark side of caregiving and ageing
Getting old is often not pretty: incontinence, managing medications and doctors’ visits (if one has the luxury of a family physician), navigating the medical system, making and getting to appointments – all of it can be overwhelming. Care management often falls to relatives. Yet some live too far away, some may be in similar circumstances…
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The day a ruffed grouse moved in
Ruffed grouse exist in nearly every province and territory in Canada except for Nunavut. They are creatures of forests. When forests and woodlots are isolated – such as parts of the lower mainland of B.C. and southern Ontario farming country – the grouse disappear. When I was a child, I heard my dad talk about…
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Ave, María
“Ave, ave,” soar the stereo boy-voicesas I hang the blue-robed Virgenand her naked Niñofrom the top of the tree.A cubit below the fatherless Holy Family, I tethertheir tin burro to a branch.The mother and child are all of a piece,a single piece of cutout hammered metalwrought by the peasant handsand fingers of the Oaxaca women’s…
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Elisabeth watches the hoopoes
They should have left long ago, but they are still here. I check every morning, though the light is weak in the courtyard, my fingers stiff and the cold latch awkward. And every morning, they are there, sitting up on the branch, their feathered crests like crowns bright in the wintering daylight. I wonder if…
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Early birds
“So, I leave for a moment to make my coffee and you hear an owl,” I laughingly said to Rachel. We were sitting in our backyard garden, enjoying what was left of the sunrise before it created the intense summer heat. It was the rare time of day when the birds are louder than the…
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Art | Arts & Culture | Creation | News
Pure joy on ice
Clear skies greeted the Antigua, a sailing vessel carrying artists into the Arctic Circle. “We were in the right spot for all of these belugas that kept coming around the corner of this little coastline,” Phil Irish describes. Two artists hooked up their underwater sound equipment to speakers. “Belugas are like songbirds,” says Irish. “They’re…
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Goshawk school
My week usually begins with three children being delivered to our farm for piano lessons. Each gets about a fifteen-minute lesson. The other two do outdoor chores with Betsey as the payment for their lesson. This particular week didn’t follow the pattern. Due to a prior commitment of mine with some mallard ducks, the lessons…
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Prayers for peace
One year ago, I stood in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. I pressed my hands to the stone, closed my eyes, and asked: What is your story? Images flooded my mind: fire, smoke, incense, screams. I pulled my hand away. On either side of me women faced the wall, heads bowed, swaying slightly…
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The monumental influence of an attentive librarian
On a farm near Union City, Michigan young Patricia Polacco’s Grandpa helps her learn how to appreciate birds and care for their habitats. Then the farm is sold, and Patricia and her brother must move to nearby Battle Creek with their mother, while Grandpa must move to Indiana. Patricia worries there will be no birds…
