Thankful for beauty's reprise

We've seen lots more swans the past two days, in the air, on the ground and on the once again open waters of the Carlos Avery Sunrise River pools. There's a lot of Canada geese in the area too. We saw a couple of very large flocks about mid-day, probably headed for open water on one of the larger, deeper lakes. Our warmer temperatures haven't triggered much ice melt on the small, still waters that froze last week.

Late yesterday the Better Half noticed some sandhill cranes in a distant field and some large white birds mixed in. As first I speculated the white birds might be a couple of whooping cranes but then realized it's more likely they were swans. I was driving and didn't get anything like a good view of the distant birds. A brief mile or so later, we noticed a flock of six or seven swans flying into and out of the mist under some low-lying clouds. It's reassuring to know that the Southern migration hasn't yet caused abandonment of the neighborhood by some of our more interesting and attractive neighbors.

early December, Southbound swans on Carlos Avery pools

Photo by J. Harrington

Today I'm thankful that there's the beauty of waterfowl to be enjoyed in our neighborhood, and the talent of poets such as Mary Oliver to help us recognize the beauty of so much of what we see. (I bet you were expecting a cavil about our extended cloudy, damp, dreary weather. Surprise, this is the month for Thanksgiving!)

The Swan

by Mary Oliver

Did you too see it, drifting, all night, on the black river?
Did you see it in the morning, rising into the silvery air -
An armful of white blossoms,
A perfect commotion of silk and linen as it leaned
into the bondage of its wings; a snowbank, a bank of lilies,
Biting the air with its black beak?
Did you hear it, fluting and whistling
A shrill dark music - like the rain pelting the trees - like a waterfall
Knifing down the black ledges?
And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds -
A white cross Streaming across the sky, its feet
Like black leaves, its wings Like the stretching light of the river?
And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?

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