Birds (and other life happenings)

I just hit a bird--a sparrow, I think. It smacked into my car on my way to work, and while I didn't hear a heavy thud I can only fear the worst. This makes me sad, and oddly more connected to the novel I'm writing. There is some "bird stuff" in the book, and lately it's like my muse and the witches of the woods (whether literal or the figurative ones inside my veins) have been conjuring some magic, coiling in energy for my writing. Last week a young raven was "trapped" in the backyard of the Buck Motor Inn. At first Mom and I thought it was sick or wounded; it hopped around but couldn't really fly, and Ollie had it trapped in a bush at one point, and then it found refuge in the coiling ivy by the cow skull hanging from our fence. After Mom called the "bird folks" (Audubon Society, I believe) we were told it was probably a young bird and was just taking off for its first flight; we were to keep the dog away from it and to give it space; and--alas--it did manage to fly to the top of the fence, then the roof, then a branch of the neighbor's pine tree. This relieved me greatly. Other bird happenings: while camping this weekend I perched on a large rock on the beach at Oswald West State Park and looked down to see a dead gull not far from me; Ben heard what he thinks was an owl swoop into our campsite and snatch up a young woodland creature, probably a squirrel, mouse, or chipmunk; the remains of a dead sparrow or robin lay on the path at work, being eaten by ants; I keep thinking about Angel, the dove at work, and how someone new will have to feed him and change his cage because K passed away, which saddens me greatly.

Life has had more ups and downs than usual lately: a lovely trip to NYC to visit Jordan and Aaron, a time of rice pudding, the Mythic Creatures exhibit at the Natural History Museum, dancing, shopping, the Mermaid Parade and Cyclone rollercoaster at Coney Island, hugs and fun and bonding and walking and eating and celebrating Ben's birthday and just being....Camping, as mentioned above, with Christina and Ryan, and the crackling bonfire and s'mores and crawling through the roots of a large tree and reading and getting over my cold and breathing deeply and reconnecting with some morsels of myself....K (a different K) deciding to stay with Jan and me for a week before she leaves for Canada, and how I can only hope I can be the best friend possible to her to help her heal, at least a tiny bit....an email from J, wanting to reconnect and work on touches of things in our friendship....Mom receiving some not-so-good news from a close, longtime friend....and so much more.

I must keep coiling this energy, and I hope no other birds get hurt in the process! I feel a touch fractured, but it feels like a necessary fracture, one that makes my bones stronger in the end.