Bus, ferry, bus, Skytrain, plane… And so my day started. At the crack of sparrow’s chirp. If everything went according to plan, I would be on a flight to Toronto before I’ve normally finished my first cup of coffee.
Leaving the house, I was greeted by a massive crowd. Imagine waking up and finding yourself in the middle of a big city at the busiest time of the day:
Commuters commuting, tourists touring, children being children.
Buses thrumming, trucks hissing, horns sounding.
Or, rounding a street corner and finding yourself amidst the excitement and joyous celebration after a victorious hockey game.
This is the first thing that came into my sleepy mind when I stepped outside my front door this morning. However, I live on a small island, in a forest. Beside a stream. But, the noise level was deafening! The birds were awake!
Robins greeting, warblers singing, crows just being crows.
Calling, tweeting, buzzing, squawking, shouting.
It really sounded like I had walked into a bird metropolis. A community of twitterers tweeting more energetically, more urgently, more frequently than millions of connected humans on a lazy Friday afternoon in the office before a long weekend.
It was simply wonderful.
The second thing that came to mind was my Dad. He loved the mornings. The early mornings. He used to joke it was a lot more peaceful with no-one around! What I realize of course is that was a lie. Be it a white one. There was plenty going on. There were birds, yes; also rabbits, foxes, deer, sheep and cows – to name but a few. Many of those creatures were as busy as any late overpaid executive rushing to a meeting.
Dad would enjoy the ‘silence’ as he drove the country lanes that eventually took him to market in the big city. Today, I too would end up in the big city. But long before that I enjoyed a cacophony of birdsong in the fresh air and twilight as I waited for the first bus.
It was an inspiring moment. It felt good to connect with the world around me. It felt good to connect with Dad.
