Saturday, June 28, 2008

Catbird Days


Stratoz offered me a blessing in the last set of comments:

May a bird of much beauty brighten your day... and may it be a common one that has been a friend for many years.

That would be the catbird. They are everywhere these days. Many, many years ago, when I was a neophyte birder, I spent an afternoon at the Quiet Husband's grandparents' farm chasing after a bird in the brush. It's obvious now, but that day I was mystified by its monchromatic gray, interrupted only by its black cap and russet rear. Catbirds are mimics, which adds to the confusion for the new birder -- the signature "mew" is a giveaway, but the other calls convince you that half a dozen species perch nearby. Nope -- all one bird.

I have seen and heard catbirds on all of my walks this past month. And yes, it is awfully nice to walk in the company of friends.

Bits and pieces of my life: I am trying to keep up, in the most minimalistic sense, with the adventures of this year's PC(USA) General Assembly, mostly thanks to Quotidian Grace. So far I am happy, albeit not ecstatic, with the various decisions. I think we have some distance to go, but the conservatives among us are downcast, to put it mildly, and want to travel in the other direction, so maybe we are in about the right place for now. My hostess, I am pretty sure, disagrees with me, but she is her usual gracious self in providing an even-keeled overview of the proceedings, unencumbered by polemical diatribes. Much appreciated!

Last night one of my patients died, someone whose rather spectacular family I have spent time with over nearly two weeks. This is the first time this summer that I have carried a hospital death home with me. It felt like quite a sad and heavy load last night.

And. . . I just got off the phone with the Lovely Daughter, whose camp counseling seems to be a tremendous success. The camp website has some beautiful pictures of her with the six-year-old girls in her cabin. Today is a day off and tomorrow the next session begins. She is moving to a cabin of eleven-year-olds -- on the upside, her new co-counselor has, as she does, a long history there as camper and counselor and, in fact, the girls were SITs together several summers ago; on the downside, they are the two shortest counselors in camp, so their campers will probably all be taller than they are.

This afternoon we are off to the first of our three summer weddings. We have apparently reached a new stage in life -- the brides are all, from our vantage point, daughters!

3 comments:

Jody Harrington said...

Thank you, GG.

I'm praying about all this and you're right--I'm distressed by it. But I am trying to listen for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Stratoz said...

Mosaic Woman remembers when her mom went through CPE training (probably the same ages as you and the Lovely Daughter). You are in our thoughts prayers.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad the lovely daughter is having such a great summer. At one point, you wished her to stay home but I'm glad she is there because a phone conversation and picture can transport you there. It sounds like you are in need of small mental vacations like that during your CPE.