… and I was part of the welcoming committee today.

It was a beautiful morning, and, once I saw that sunshine peeking through the blinds, I was eager to get out and enjoy my walk.

It was a bit breezy though, and, while wending my way through Wyandotte, I heard the melodic tinkle of wind chimes as the wind stirred them slightly. The twittering of the song birds as they greeted one another up in the trees, along with those wind chimes, harmonized perfectly to make for a very peaceful walk.

I watched the wind as it chased those pesky, light-as-a-feather elm seeds from the trees, then scattered them en masse on sidewalks and lawns, and … even on me. They sailed through the air and soon my coat jacket was littered with those paper-thin seeds that will mingle with the moist earth or mulch and a lot of sunshine to produce thousands of weeds in a few weeks.

While that wind was just perfect for launching all the elm seeds, and carrying the potpourri of fresh lilac blooms straight to my nostrils, unfortunately, that breeze was just a little too strong for one tiny sparrow to fly. As I walked down the Boulevard, I saw a small brown speck hopping along a cement driveway.  When I got closer, I noticed it was a baby sparrow, just a bit of a bird, a tiny feathery ball of fluff, with a stubby tail, short wings and a beige beak.  He reminded me so much of my canary, though admittedly, he lacked Buddy’s mop top, white stomach and neck.  This baby sparrow was not sickly as it danced down the drive in record time and sure ran like heck as I approached. I talked softly to this scared baby bird, and imagined his tiny heart pumping so fast in its chest, as it was scared of the big human who loomed over it.  I wondered what happened to its mama and why she was not keeping track of her little one.  He tried to “lift off” a couple of times, but the strong breeze made him unsuccessful in his efforts.  I wanted to scoop him up and take him along with me.

I continued on my journey and on my return trip, he was still there, this time with another sparrow close by, presumably giving him TLC or some flying lessons.

I did some flying of my own today – I think the breeze carried me along. I made it back and forth in record time (for me anyway), though I am nowhere near my goal of walking five miles in under an hour by Labor Day 2016.  Maybe we’ll revise that goal to Labor Day 2017 instead!

I leave you with a little Wednesday wisdom:

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. – Bill Shakespeare

[Image from Public Domain Pictures/18043 from Pixabay]